Project Empathy
by Necromance Theatre
Summary: Kaiba finds himself living with Jounouchi after a unanimous vote by his board members and Mokuba, forcing him to learn how to empathize with-or walk in the shoes of-other people and even the "lowest of duelists" for the sake of his new Dueling Academy. SetoxKatsuya.
1. C1: Just Business

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

*Rated T for Teen*

**Author's Note**:

Hello there, everyone! First off, I'd like to say that it's insane how this fic is the first fic I've written in seven years, and I hope you all like it and find the need to review afterwards. I also just started re-watching Yu-Gi-Oh! (almost done with Battle City), and I had finished the series _a while_ ago, so please bear with me and inform me of any mistakes if I bring up anything from the original story.

P.S.

I just looove this couple! I remember thinking they were cute together when I was younger. Now, many years later, I'm just a creeper who wants them to do more than just be cute together. *wink, wink* *nudge, nudge* ;D

**Summary**:

Kaiba finds himself living with Jounouichi after a unanimous vote by his board members and Mokuba, forcing him to learn how to empathize with-or walk in the shoes of-other people and even the "lowest of duelists" for the sake of his new Dueling Academy. SetoxKatsuya.

* * *

**Chapter 1**:

Just Business

* * *

On a chilly November afternoon, browning autumn leaves snapped from the frail limbs of aging trees, scattering across Domino City as the winds grew harsher. People hurried on to find shelter in cemented walls, holding on to their hats, scarves, skirts-anything light enough to be swept away. The violent winds continued on with their rampage, battering against the glass windows of small shops and restaurants-relentless to even what seemed to be the strongest and largest of settlements.

Of these structures was Kaiba Corp, looming over the city with a mighty height that reached the clouds. Gusts of winds attacked the tall windows of Kaiba Corp's meeting room, but the glass was formidable in its' defense. Even more formidable was the tension wafting in the large room as several higher workers scanned through documents containing Kaiba's latest ideas for his new academy for duelists.

The young man himself took his seat at the end of the table as he motioned his clicker to turn off the projector, never taking his cobalt eyes off of his workers. He had a sudden urge to start fidgeting or twiddling his thumbs, but immediately destroyed it as Kaiba's do not fidget nor do they twiddle.

No, there would be no twiddling of thumbs here; Kaiba was sure his ideas were gold, and he had the utmost confidence that his workers would love them. He let a small smirk grace his face and thought, 'they're going to love-'

"I hate these," a rude voice interrupted.

The CEO took a quick, sharp breath as his grip on the seat handles tightened in surprise. Due to years of training, his usual poker face remained until he turned his head to grace his insulter with a fierce glare and the intention to relieve the person of his duties.

Too bad that person was his little brother.

"Mokuba…," the brunette called out to his brother through gritted teeth, "what do you think you're doing here?"

Mokuba glared back with an intensity that nearly matched Seto's, proving that they were indeed blood brothers, and replied, "I _am_ the Vice President, y'know. I _do_ have a right to be here, niisama."

The brunette let out a small sigh. He was irritated by his sibling's behavior, but, in a certain way, proud; Mokuba would make a fine replacement for him.

When he was long gone and dead, of course.

"Alright," Seto began, "would you like to explain to me and my board what exactly it is that you 'hate', _Vice President_?"

At this, the workers looked flustered; they were already overwhelmed when dealing with one Kaiba, and getting caught between two of them could lead to terrible, destructive-even _nuclear_-things. Even so, they remained silent and listened intently.

The younger Kaiba gave a little pout, but courageously took up the offer and began his explanation. "Well, first off, what's with this super hard placement test to get into the school? With a test like this, everyone applying would fail!"

"Of course this test was created so that only the _finest_ of duelists would be able to attend the academy," Kaiba sneered. "Would you all agree that we do not need any lowly, second-rate duelists plaguing the school?"

Despite whatever disagreements they had in their minds, the poor workers frantically nodded, fearful of their CEO's possible reaction to rejection.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, but continued. "By the finest of duelists, you pretty much mean you and Yami." Kaiba frowned at the use of his rival's name, but remained silent. "And besides, this is an _academy_ for duelists; people will be there to _learn_ how to duel better so obviously they won't be as great as you want them to be at first."

With this statement, the workers genuinely nodded, which was a huge contrast to how frantically they had nodded to Seto's claim earlier. Brows furrowing, Seto began to get a little anxious as Mokuba carried on in his assault on the concepts.

"Oh, and I'm reading this one _directly_ from the report." The boy looked down at the papers in his hands and cleared his throat, "as a requisite for graduation, all students attending the dueling academy will be required to defeat Seto Kaiba in a duel before any documents of completion are granted."

"Again, only the finest of duelists will be able to get in, and the finest of duelists will be able to leave," Seto replied arrogantly.

Mokuba looked up at Seto, frowning. "_Nobody_ would graduate then!"

"Hn, that _would_ be true, since they wouldn't be _able_ to defeat me. Good point. I'll make sure to take that one out. Carry on."

"Plus, with all of the new equipment and what these blue prints look like, the cost of this place would be insane!"

"I will only settle for the best, Mokuba."

"Does the best _really_ have to include a twelve foot, granite statue of yourself and a Blue Eyes White Dragon!?" Mokuba cried out, slapping the papers with the back of his free hand.

Seto shrugged his little brother's retort off and dryly replied, "yes."

Mokuba rolled his eyes and Seto gave him a look that urged him to go on. "Anyway, because of the costs, the tuition would almost be double the tuition of Tokyo U and any of the top universities around here! Just who do you think, excluding yourself niisama, would be able to afford this?" (1)

"Yes, but—"

Mokuba halted his comeback. "And who do you think would be working on all of this new equipment to meet your deadline by the end of this year?"

Seto rolled his eyes as if the question was stupid. "My employees of course." He averted his gaze to his board and asked, "we have plenty of competent men such as Sahara and Takashi down in the tech department who are efficient enough to get this done in time, correct?"

The room was silent until one brave soul was able to gulp and reply, "t-they are no longer with the c-company, s-sir."

The brunette's brow furrowed into a questioning look. "And why is that?"

"Y-you fired them, sir."

"You're fired," the CEO replied curtly, obviously annoyed and finding the need to lash out on the worker's honesty.

The poor employee jumped at this and became teary eyed, frantically gathering up his papers and belongings.

"No-no-no-no-NO! Oh NO, you are NOT firing him Seto!" Mokuba cried out as he stomped over to the worker and slapped the briefcase out of his hands. "You." He pointed at the worker.

Sweat dripped down the worker's forehead as he stared at the younger Kaiba.

"Sit back down," Mokuba ordered, very obvious in his attitude that he was not backing down.

The older brother abruptly stood up, his tall figure stretching up to a menacing height as he sent his brother a glare. "Enough, Mokuba! I am attempting to have a meeting with my board and you are disturbing us! If you have any more input or ridiculous things to say, I would advise you to speak up now or leave us be. Do you _understand_?"

Mokuba looked as if he was about to jump at his big brother's throat; he hadn't been this furious at his brother since he had taken his video games and much beloved Pocky treats away from him as punishment that one time.

"Oh I _do_ understand, niisama. I DO." Mokuba stamped over to his brother after he grabbed one of the workers' expensive tablets off of the table. "I understand that—" he paused, violently swiping his fingers across the device, "these ideas are ridiculous and unreasonable, and your tech department is completely EMPTY!"

Huffing, he shoved the tablet in front of Seto's face to reveal the live camera footage that displayed Kaiba Corps' tech department. To the CEO's surprise, the room was indeed empty. The only things that remained to be seen were sharp glares of computer lights and the occasional tumbleweed to add to the pathetically barren scene.

"Just where the hell are those fools!?" Kaiba yelled out, mostly to himself, but Mokuba answered:

"Well, niisama, you either fired them for stupid reasons or you scared them away because of the monster that you've become!"

Seto's heart sank at the words that had just spilled out of Mokuba's mouth. Sure, it was true that he had not been the most kind and understanding of bosses, but he was efficient and needed to do what needed to be done. His successful, multi-billion dollar company was more than enough to prove that, and he had been able to give Mokuba whatever he may want or need. Even so, somewhere deep down in his heart, he knew that the many years of running his company had made him into the 'monster' that Mokuba—the only person in the world that meant something to him—had come to hate. Not yet, but surely enough, that hate would come to fruition and he would lose his most precious person.

The brunette was absolutely terrified of this thought, and as he glimpsed at his board members who were hanging their heads down in what could be viewed as shame or fear, he realized his brother was right to say those things.

Seto sat down, resting his forehead in the palm of his hand as he let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, Mokuba…," he began, "what do you want from me?"

Mokuba walked over to his big brother and placed his hand on the elder's shoulder. "It's not just me, niisama; it's everyone."

Seto looked up, a curious look on his face as he glanced at his brother and then his workers, softly asking, "everyone…?"

The eyes of his board members quickly averted, too frightened to meet with the intensity of the CEO's deep, cerulean eyes.

Mokuba let out a sigh. "Yes, everyone." Seto looked up at him from his seat, and the younger could see the tiniest glint of emotion dancing in his brother's eyes before it quickly escaped to an unknown place. "People are scared of you, niisama. Your workers, especially. You've been firing people left and right, and sometimes I think you don't really fully understand the impact of your attitude on other peoples' lives…."

He continued on. "I know that you care about this company. And you care about me, Seto…." He took a deep breath. "But you need to start caring for more than that if you want this company to keep going, and especially if you want this duelists' academy to be successful."

Kaiba felt cornered at this point; it wasn't everyday that he had his "imperfections" put on blast in front of people nor was it everyday that people were willing to stand up to him. He was fully aware that he wasn't very well liked amongst his company, and it was obvious that he couldn't be the 'Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky-Fuck-Work-Let's-Party-Guys!' type of boss. Instead, he had opted for the complete opposite: overly-strict and firing anyone who dared to get in his way.

But the brunette had felt right in his behavior. There were plenty of people whom he could hire—people even more competent than stupid Sahara or Takashi or whomever the fuck had worked in the tech department. His company was flourishing and would continue to do so with or without the people he had threatened or crushed along his destructive journey to the top. So why did he have to change now? What benefit would he have from listening to these people?

"I have an idea," Mokuba chimed in, disrupting the elder's deep reflections.

Kaiba straightened himself up, regaining his mighty CEO posture and charging his defensive wall back up. "And what would that be, Mokuba?" He asked with a little bit of impatience laced in his voice.

"Now, before I bring it up, it has to be something that is voted on by us and the board before anything happens," the younger explained.

"Fine," Kaiba complied, not willing to back down.

The board members glanced at each other, confused, but relieved that the brothers had stopped arguing, and eventually nodded in agreement.

Mokuba stood straight, a smile on his face as he held out three fingers to his audience. "Three weeks," he began triumphantly. "My big brother, Seto Kaiba and also CEO of Kaiba Corp, will be temporarily relieved of his duties for three weeks as I, Vice President, take over to hire or rehire workers for the production of the duelists' academy and continue with its' preparations."

Kaiba leaped up from his chair and slammed his hands on the table, causing everyone to jump. "And what exactly is it that you want me to do when relieved of my duties, Mokuba!? How could you even think you could do this without me!?"

Mokuba remained calm. "Niisama will be assigned a project to learn about the lives of others—specifically the 'lowly', 'second-rate', 'poor' people whom you wouldn't even give a chance to attend your academy."

"This is ridiculous Moku—"

"And I _can_ do the hiring and preparations. _Without_ you, niisama."

Kaiba looked amused by this. "Oh, really now?"

Mokuba smirked a typical Kaiba family smirk and answered, "Yes. I can. So let's just vote on this now."

The brunette's throat moved with a small gulp as he had completely forgotten that this matter would be voted on.

"Everyone in favor of the CEO temporarily relinquishing his duties to me, Vice President, to pursue this three week project, please raise your hands!"

Seconds dragged on as the workers kept their arms down, causing Seto to smirk in preemptive victory. 'Of course they wouldn't agree to this nonsense! I don't need to learn how to empathize or whatever Mokuba wants me to—'

A shaky hand was raised.

And then another.

And another.

Soon enough, all hands were raised in a unanimous vote against the CEO of Kaiba Corp.

A smug look was plastered on Mokuba's face as he turned to his older brother and sarcastically asked, "And all against the idea?"

Seto smacked his forehead in defeat and half-heartedly raised his hand.

"Urgh…."

* * *

(1) I really don't know how much tuition is at Tokyo U, but I'm a poor student so I can empathize, ha-ha.

Well, hope you guys liked it! Please review. Positive or negative, I won't cry! (maybe ._.) Oh, and I promise our beloved puppy, Katsuya, will be in the next chapter! ^_^"


	2. C2: Cities of Night

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Rated T for Teen

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys, I'm sorry this is so late! I've been drowning in exams and schoolwork. I also have this uncanny ability to get sick every time November begins.

Anyway, here are some more important things:

1. YugixYami is getting introduced as a couple. Hope that's okay?

2. This is a pretty long chapter, but I have to introduce all these characters so the rest of the story flows.

3. Lastly, thank you all for the support with the reviews, favorites and follows! I really appreciate it.

* * *

**Chapter 2: **

Cities of Night

* * *

Jounouchi Katsuya, now a high school senior at Domino High (only God knows how he made it this far), was finding it very difficult to pay attention in his last class on a Friday afternoon.

Not that it was unprecedented or a deviation from the norm, but this had a different type of feeling to it. Of course, the blond had had his share of falling asleep in class and dozing off, but it was never like this. No, Jounouchi was not tired nor did he hate English to the extent that he would be able to block the droning sensei out for a straight forty minutes, but he did, and he couldn't figure out exactly why.

Katsuya only knew that all day, during certain classes, he had felt like he was being _watched_, and even though it was definitely cold outside, something other than the weather in that classroom sent chills down his spine, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

'Maybe I'm just bein' paranoid,' the blond thought as the lesson came to its end, the bell ringing and the intercom turning on for whatever useless babbling the principal felt compelled to end the school day with.

Jounouchi quickly stepped out of the classroom, not even bothering to further investigate the strange matter. By experience, he knew that meddling in these weird affairs would only lead to worse situations, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what the hell was going on anyway.

"You would think dat I'd get used ta dis weird shit by now," he muttered to himself as he finished up at his locker.

"What weird 'shit', Jou?"

"Yaahh!" The blond jumped up and turned around to face the large, violet eyes of his best pal. "Yugi! Jeez, ya scared me half ta death! What are ya doin', sneakin' around like dat?"

The smaller boy giggled adorably at his best friend's behavior. "Sneaking around? We always meet at your locker after school, Jou!"

"Oh right, right." Jou replied, an embarrassed grin plastered on his face as he scratched the back of his head. "So where's Yami and da rest?"

"Anzu is at a dance lesson and Honda followed Otogi somewhere right after class. Oh, and Yami's just fighting with Bakura again." Yugi motioned to the far end of the hall where Bakura was trying to shove Yami into what seemed to be a shadowy abyss in the janitor's closet. Ryou was also there, frantically trying to stop the two and making sure not to fall into the closet himself.

Jou sweatdropped at the scene and nervously laughed. 'I got some weird friends,' he thought as he walked out of the school with Yugi. 'Maybe today was a sign dat I should make some new ones-ones that aren't thousands of years old and can't send ya to da shadow realm.'

The blond looked down at Yugi, and an innocent smile graced the tiny boy's face as he looked up at Jou, oblivious to the other's thoughts and making the blond feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (1)

"Naaah!" Jou suddenly exclaimed, lovingly ruffling Yugi's tri-colored hair while feeling guilty of his previous thoughts of finding new friends.

* * *

As the two boys left and a disgruntled pharaoh followed shortly after, a luxurious black car moved from its parking place beside the sidewalk and slowly began to trail them.

"Hmph, took that mutt long enough," Kaiba grumbled under his breath as he shifted the car into second gear, his icy blue eyes never leaving sight of the blond. (2)

Soon enough, after much traffic-weaving and cursing, Seto came to a stop, putting the vehicle in neutral and lifting the handbrake as Jou halted to say his goodbyes to a disappointed Yugi and Yami. He was able to listen in on their conversation with one of his new Kaiba Corp devices.

"Just another perk of being CEO of a multi-billion dollar company," the brunette arrogantly said to himself as he placed a headphone in his ear and picked up a signal.

"I'll try ta come over durin' da weekend guys." Jounouchi smiled and began to walk the opposite direction of the other two boys. "I just got a lot of stuff ta do tonight, dats all!"

The blond sprinted off, leaving the other two boys confused.

"Hey Yami?"

"Yes, Aibou?"

"Jou's been acting weird all day, huh?" Yugi asked.

"Not just all day," Yami started as he let his fingers intertwine with his other half's softer ones, "he has been acting strangely for quite some time now."

Yugi looked worried at this, and he gripped his Yami's hand. "I hope he's alright..."

The pharaoh gently smiled down at his partner. "Jou is very strong; I am sure that whatever trouble he is facing, he will overcome it."

Yugi returned the smile, his eyes closed in content at his other half's reassuring words. "Yeah, you're right." He nestled against the others shoulder. "Let's go home now."

With a nod from Yami, the two continued down the road.

"Hmph, how touching," Kaiba sneered as he fluently shifted the gears in his car to pursue Katsuya. "Note to self: even proletariats have things to do other than fool around."

The brunette took a sharp turn and kept up with the unsuspecting blond boy, all the while thinking of what his rivals were saying.

'The mutt acting weird?' If anything, Jounouchi had seemed the same as always to him: not paying attention in class, avoiding teacher questions with jokes and occasionally resting his head. He could say this because, after all, _he_ had been the one watching him all day during their classes together.

"Is he on to me?" Seto questioned himself, stopping at a traffic light.

He rubbed his eyes and let out an uncharacteristic yawn as the light turned green. He had not gotten muchsleep during the previous night for he was too busy searching the evening away on his laptop….

* * *

After the meeting, the irritable CEO had been shooed away by Mokuba and exiled to his room to start on his "project". A few nightstands and desk flips later, Kaiba found himself searching for a reject-duelist that matched the description that Mokuba had given him.

Yugi, he supposed, met the "poor" description, but the five stars underneath his profile said opposite of his dueling skills. The boy probably wouldn't be able to afford the academy, but Seto, admittedly, would not mind letting him attend due to his skills and ingenuity.

The brunette closed the file and moved on to the rest.

_Yam_i: weren't pharaohs supposed to be rich? Did the guy have mountains of riches hidden somewhere in an Egyptian chamber? Regardless, he was too skilled to be a match. *close*

_Mai_: too annoying. *close*

_Otogi_: weird dice fetish. *close*

_Ryou_: too quiet and mysterious. *close*

_Bakura_: too evil. *close*

_Marik_: same. *close*

Seto sighed, aware that he was getting severely off track, but he knew that none of these people would be able to help him. Every one of them, in his perspective, was pretty well off or a skilled duelist (not better than the CEO himself, of course) and they would not be very useful for his project. He was about ready to throw up his hands and give up, but his unstoppable pride impeded and he continued on until one profile struck his attention.

The profile consisted of a blond boy with honey colored eyes who had no stars underneath his photo to prove his dueling skills. Of course, the database had the bias of the cocky CEO, and _he_ was the one who created the profiles, but Jounouchi Katsuya was the perfect match.

'How could I have been so blind?' Seto mentally slapped himself. 'The lousy mutt is perfect for this! Poor, lowly _and_ second-rate: I wouldn't let this imbecile anywhere near my academy!'

With a triumphant cackle, Seto closed his laptop and proceeded to get an hour and forty-three minutes of sleep.

* * *

And that was how the brunette found himself practically stalking Jounouchi the next day at school.

"Hn, you dumb mutt." Kaiba smirked as he made a sharp turn. "You should be honored that the CEO of Kaiba Corp chose you out of all the pathetic lowlifes out there," he claimed, continuing his quest and keeping an eye on his subject.

Despite the fact that he had his arms crossed over his chest at an attempt for warmth, Jounouchi had a look of content on his face as he strolled along the sidewalk, humming to a tune that was blaring into his ears through headphones. Seto, establishing sleep deprivation as his focus of blame on these strange upcoming thoughts, found the sight rather serene as Katsuya's golden hair and eyes glimmered in the sun and autumn leaves of many shades and colors—as if dancing—cascaded around him.

As he stopped in front of what seemed to be a restaurant, Kaiba contemplated on whether or not he had ever actually seen the other boy look this blissfully vulnerable before. For some reason unbeknownst to Seto, the blond was always on a constant alert, setting up invisible walls to his enemies—of course—and even his own friends.

But was he the only one who noticed this? Seto questioned himself, finding it odd that he would be considerably happy if this were the case and he knew something about the mutt that no one—not even his best friend Yugi—perceived.

"Hey ya old geeza!" A loud voice called out, disrupting the brunette's reflections.

Kaiba turned his attention towards the voice to witness Katsuya engaged in a headlock from a man who was very well in his late forties.

"Who are ya callin' an old geezer, ya twerp!?" The older man teased with a grin plastered on his face while he gave the blond a playful noogie.

"Cut it out, old man!" Jounouchi struggled out of the man's grasp and grinned back. "Now, on to da more important matters. Where's my check?"

"You ungrateful brat!" The man playfully hit the blond with the end of the broom he was using to sweep the leaves on the pavement. "You can have your check after doin' a five hour shift tonight."

"Seriously!? No way…."

Suddenly changing his joking attitude, the older man clasped his large hands together in a pleading manner. "Jou-kun, please! I know it's your day off kid, but Tsuki-chan called out sick, and that leaves me with only Yuki to wait on the tables!"

As Kaiba scrutinized the situation, he noticed the slight twinkle in the mutt's eyes as the man who seemed to be his boss and the owner of the restaurant (info established through Kaiba's awesome deductive skills) mentioned the name 'Yuki'.

"Ugh…Well, awright den, old man. Ya got me for _five_ hours, but dats it, ya hear me!?"

The previously distressed owner hugged the boy, proceeding to thank him profusely for his charity. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're such a good kid!" He ruffled Jou's hair affectionately.

Jou dismissed the man's hand with his own. "Yeah, yeah. Ya got an extra uniform fer me?"

"Yep! It's in the break room, kiddo!"

"Well, that was fairly easy," Kaiba muttered to himself as he watched the two fade into the back of the restaurant. "But what the hell am I going to do for five hours, you stupid dog!?"

Confirming that no one of importance was looking, the irritable CEO threw his head back onto the expensive leather seat and slid down in a defeated manner.

It had been less than a day since his board members and his little brother, Mokuba, had turned against him, forcing him to relinquish his presidential duties and pursue the project. Even so, the brunette was already feeling the painful withdrawal symptoms of not having the extremely busy workdays that he, for many years, was so accustomed to.

And on top of all that, Kaiba was stuck following around the _mutt_ of all people.

'But what choice do I have?' Kaiba questioned himself as he let his long fingers elegantly run through his hair. 'He's the only loser that fits the damn description, and I don't know where else to begin!'

He glanced over to the restaurant, his eyes falling upon the blond as he walked about the busy dining room and took customer orders.

Kaiba's eyes soon wandered over to the waiter's uniform that Jounouchi was wearing, unable to stop the thought of the mutt actually being a tad bit 'cute' as he wore a pair of slim, black pants and a tight, white dress shirt accompanied by suspenders and a black bowtie.

'Cute?' Kaiba banged his head on the steering wheel. 'Am I so sleep deprived that I actually thought that loser dog to be CUTE?'

'Had that word even _existed _in my vocabulary!?'

Noticing a figure approaching the blond boy from the corner of his eye, Seto's head shot back up.

The person who had approached the blond was tall—about Seto's height—with shoulder-length, jet-black hair and emerald green eyes that contrasted against his pale skin. He was also sporting the same outfit as Jou, but it had the opposite effect as it made him look handsome—not cute.

Without thinking, Seto frantically scrambled to find the audio device he had used earlier to listen in on Jou's conversation with Yugi and Yami.

A cool, subtle voice was picked up. "Hey, Jou-chan. I didn't know you were working today."

Jounouchi's back straightened up as if there were something crawling up his shirt, and he looked up at the raven-haired boy. "Ah! Hi, Yuki-senpai!" He tried his best to avoid eye contact and quickly stammered his next words. "Y-yeah. Da old man kinda begged me ta work when I came ta pick up my check. So now I'm here! Heh-heh…."

Yuki smirked and inched closer to the blond while Seto unconsciously rolled his eyes.

"Mm, I see." Yuki's face leaned in closer until his lips were near Jou's ears. "Are you sure that I'm not the reason for you _coming_?"

Seto let out a mocking laugh, "Ha! What sort of fool would be bothered by a cheap line like that? You've got to be kid—"

Subsequently, Katsuya seemed to realize what the other boy had just said as the hair on his arms stood up and blood rose to his face, giving him a flushed look. He struggled to keep the platter of empty glasses in his hand still as the older boy snickered and ruffled his blond hair.

"Well?"

"Agh!" Jou pouted, smacking the large hand away from his head. "Quit teasin' me, senpai! Jus' cuz yer da owner's nephew, doesn't mean you can go around harrassin' people like dat! Yeesh!" In a childlike manner, Jounouchi stomped away to assist some customers with the same blush still visible on his face.

"Imbecile…." Kaiba murmered to himself, almost feeling disappointed as he flung the headphones onto the dashboard and watched Jou continue with his work.

As he tiredly slid down his seat again, the young CEO tried to think of reasons as to why he was so upset about the blond's encounter with the guy named 'Yuki'.

'Maybe I chose the wrong idiot to help me with this project.' Kaiba calmly shook his head. 'No, that's not it. But stalking the damn mutt isn't going to get me anywhere!'

He looked back over at said mutt as his eyes began to droop beyond his control, and the last thing the brunette had witnessed before he succumbed to a deep slumber was Jounouchi joyously laughing and blushing near that stupid Yuki.

* * *

_Five hours later…._

* * *

"Awright, see you guys later!"

Kaiba's eyes shot wide open as the voice awakened him from his dreamless sleep. He scrambled up his seat, his back straightening as he glanced around to survey his surroundings in a confused manner.

He saw the restaurant and two people standing in front of it while happily waving to a fading silhouette in the distance.

"Shit," Kaiba murmured under his breath as he quickly tried to start the car.

The car stalled and turned off as it jerked forward and back a little, and Kaiba punched the steering wheel angrily. He looked back up at the blond who had just walked into a narrow alleyway and got out of his car, deciding to trail him by foot because his car would not be able to fit.

"You stupid dog." Seto's quick and stealthy footsteps hardly made a sound as he chased the blond. "I am not going home until I learn whatever the hell it is I have to!"

Though he was well aware of the fact that he had three weeks to do his project, the brunette's patience was growing thin with every passing second that involved him _not_ furiously typing away on his laptop, _not_ terrorizing his employees at a meeting and, to put it simply, _not_ performing bad-ass, presidential duties.

'Where the hell is this mutt heading?' Kaiba thought as his blue eyes took in the pathetic scenery of flickering lights, garbage bags and cracked, graffiti-filled walls.

"Hey, 'Kashi-san! I got ya some leftovas!"

The CEO quickly hid behind a dumpster, putting his sleeved arm against his nostrils to defend against the putrid smell. He vaguely wondered if the mutt had to walk home like this everyday as he listened to the conversation.

"Jou-kun!" The other person wheezed for a bit before going on. "What a kind boy you are—always looking after an old, useless fool like me…."

There was a rustling sound made by a plastic bag as Jou handed the leftovers to the man, and Kaiba heard the blond giggle. "It's awright. They're jus' leftovas. And besides, ya need ta keep yer strength up ta get back on yer feet!"

"Oh, Jou…." The man began to say with a hint of sadness laced in his voice.

The blond did not let him finish as he interrupted, saying, "It's awright. Ya don't have ta say anymore. Jus' eat!"

Kashi-san did not reply as he opened up the bag of food.

"I'll see ya later, 'kay?"

The man softly said goodbye and Jou continued along his journey.

After waiting a little, the brunette came out from the shadows and began to trail the blond again. As he walked past the man that Jou had been talking to, he was able to see from the tattered clothes and unkempt beard that the man was homeless. He paid no attention to the well-dressed CEO as he savagely devoured his meal, and as Kaiba stepped over him in a snotty manner, he caught a glimpse of the man's face and felt that he looked familiar.

Kaiba shrugged off the feeling, coming to the conclusion that the man may just have been one of the many homeless people who frequented the outside of Kaiba Corp to beg his workers for money.

'So the mutt walks back home from his feeble part-time job as a waiter and sometimes meets with that man to give him his pitiful leftovers.'

As Seto silently followed Jou to the end of the narrow alleyway, he watched the dim moonlight that was hidden by buildings illuminate the other's slim back. The small amount of light allowed for the sight of the many creases and folds in the blond's clothing as it hung loosely on his delicate frame and provided little to no protection against the frigid air.

The brunette thought back on what had just happened with the homeless man, thinking that maybe the skinny blond could have used the food as much as the man had. 'Hmph. Of course he'd be dumb enough to give away his food; he doesn't even have the sense to wear a jacket in November.'

Suddenly, Jou stopped in front of a small house at the end of the dark street they had been treading on. Kaiba halted and curiously glanced at the worn down residence, taking in the chipped paint, cracked wood and the tall blades of neglected and dying grass. He then looked over at the blond who had been wordlessly staring at the house as if in a trance, noticing that Jou had let his arms fall limp next to his sides instead of remaining encircled around his chest at an endeavor for warmth.

From Seto's point of view, it was as if the other boy was no longer suffering from the cold weather, and something about that house had seemed more painful than the penetrating bite of the evening's sharp and bitter wind against his skin.

The moonlight glistened on Jou's golden eyes as they began to lose their energy, and Seto unconsciously called out to the other boy.

"Mutt!"

Jou jumped in surprise and became even more shocked at who had just shown up. "Kaiba!" He shook his head, trying to make sure he wasn't dreaming and clearing his head of any previous thoughts. "What da hell are _you_ doin' hea'!?"

For a few seconds, Kaiba was at a loss for words until he coolly crossed his arms across his chest and gave the blond a look of disgust. "Hmph, I should be asking you the same, mutt."

"I'm not a mutt! And I live hea', ya rich bastard." Jou spat back. "Now explain yourself!"

"Hn. Figures you would live in such a dump. And if you must know, _mutt_, I was merely out on a walk until I had the unfortunate luck to stumble upon a loser such as yourself." Kaiba let out an almost inaudible breath as his heart-rate slowed down; he didn't want the other boy to realize that he had been the one practically stalking him all day so he had to find some sort of excuse to give the blond.

Jou squinted his eyes in a suspicious manner. "So you were walkin'."

"Yes."

"And ya somehow ended up all da way ova here?"

"…Yes."

"Halfway across da city and dozens o' miles away from Kaiba Corp!?" Joey exploded. "Now tell me what yer really up to, rich boy!"

"I got lost, okay!?" Seto inwardly smacked himself after he said this, cursing his good acting skills because they were going to make him look like a fool in front of the mutt.

Silence.

Jou's eyes lit up and he snorted, attempting to control his laughter by covering his mouth. "…Are you serious?"

"Ugh, why am I wasting my time talking to a proletariat like you when I could be calling someone to pick me up so they could take me away from this unsightly scene?" Kaiba arrogantly smirked. "And by unsightly, I don't mean the house, you filthy mutt."

Embarrassed by Kaiba's mean remark, Jou's face became a bright red and he glared back at the other. "And hea' I was actually gettin' a little concerned for da snotty, little rich boy!" He spun around and proceeded to stomp towards his home. "Go ahead and call yer fancy limo, ya bastard!"

"Hn, I wi—" Kaiba stopped, his eyes widening as his hands were met with the empty pockets of his lavish, black trench coat.

'Maybe my pant pockets?' Kaiba thought as he reached into the front and back pockets of his dress pants, finding only his leather wallet. 'Don't tell me I left it in the fucking car!'

Jou raised a brow at the CEO's strange behavior and stopped himself from opening his door. "What, cat's got ya tongue, Kaiba?"

"Fuck off, mutt," Kaiba growled, slightly miffed because his phone was nowhere to be found.

Jou grinned. "Looks like da high 'n mighty CEO lost his phone!" He crossed his arms over his chest as the wind picked up. "Want me ta tell ya where da nearest payphone is?"

Kaiba sent Jou, who was standing on his porch a couple feet away from him, a death-glare, but did not respond.

"About ten blocks from hea'!" Jou erupted in a bout of laughter as he turned around and shoved his key into the doorknob. " Betta' hope ya don't get lost aga—"

Before he could make it into the house, Jou was bombarded by the soft scent of delicious cologne as the long end of Kaiba's trench coat brushed against his shocked face.

"Hey! Get outta my house, ya bastard!" He dashed into his home, only to bump face-first into the CEO's broad back.

Having lost almost all his patience for the day, Kaiba turned around and gave the blond an icy glare, sending chills down Jou's back. "Let me use your phone, mutt."

With a cute, sullen look on his face, Jou rubbed his nose and looked up at the brunette. "Don't got one, asshole."

"And why the fuck is that?" Kaiba spat out as he spun around to face the blond.

He expected the blond to glare back at him with the usual intensity that proved he indeed harbored a deep hatred for the CEO, but he didn't.

Instead, Jou averted his honey-colored eyes and softly replied, "Because I don't need one…."

Deciding not to press the matter further, Kaiba shifted his body against the wall of the cramped hallway, allowing Jou to slip off his well-worn sneakers and shuffle past him. He followed the blond down the hall and took in the setting.

To his left was a small kitchen, equipped with a minimal amount of appliances. There was a refrigerator decorated with small Duel Monsters magnets and worn down sticky notes of forgotten reminders and tasks. To the right of the fridge was a small counter-space where an old microwave was placed near the oven, and Kaiba noticed that the clock on the device was flickering.

Other than the outdated appliances and splintered wooden cabinets that hung on the walls, Kaiba found the kitchen to be neater than he had initially expected. There was no food lying around or any bugs to be seen—just the clean tiled floors and a small table in the middle of the room with only one of its' four chairs pulled out.

"What are ya starin' at, rich boy?" Jou called out from the living room, which was to Kaiba's right.

"Just thinking about what a dump this place is," Kaiba retorted as he took his attention away from the kitchen and to the living room.

Just like the kitchen, the living room was also minimal in its furniture and decorations. Across the room was a box-shaped television, equipped with antennas and wooden furnishings. There were also soft, egg-white walls that had tiny, randomly placed holes; it was as if they once housed nails that hung up photos, but someone had taken them down.

"Fuck you, Kaiba..."

The blond was lazily lying on a grey couch that creaked at every movement of his body, and directly beside him was a single-person seat and an empty ashtray that seemed to not be used in a while.

"Where's your father?" Kaiba asked, knowing from all the involuntary time he had spent with the nerd herd that the blond's mother had left with his sister, Shizuka.

"A business trip," Jou quickly answered, shooting up from his position and then frowning at Kaiba. "Take off yer shoes, rich boy."

"Hn, and why should I listen to you? Last time I checked, you bow down to _me,_ mutt," Kaiba retorted.

"And last time _I_ checked," Jou began as he got off the couch and walked towards the tall brunette, "_you _were the one dat got lost and now has no ride back to his fancy-shmancy mansion."

"…."

Jou sighed and brushed his fingers through his messy blond hair. "I'm too tired ta deal with you, moneybags. So you can stay here for da night, but I want yer ass out by da mornin'!" He gave Kaiba a serious glare. "Ya got dat!?"

Kaiba held back another insult as he figured staying over could potentially give him some valuable information for his project. He nodded, took off his pricey shoes, and followed the blond down the hallway until they reached the first room.

"Dis is my room," Jou stated as he quickly stepped in and came back out with an electric heater in his arms. "Take dis, go down to dat room—" he pointed down the hall, "—and stay da hell outta mine."

Seto snatched the heater away. "Gladly."

As he grudgingly walked towards the door at the end of the hall with a look of distaste on his face, the floors creaked with almost every step. He took notice of several large holes in the walls—some of which had duct tape over them—and then let his eyes wander over to a door to his left.

Kaiba curiously stared at the slightly ajar door, his fingers twitching towards the knob.

"Dat room's off limits."

The emotions on the brunette's face were erased as he casually turned around to see Jou still standing at his doorway with his hand grasping the doorframe of his bedroom.

"Hmph, whatever, mutt."

Kaiba continued down to the room he would be staying in, and as he turned the knob with the hand that wasn't holding the heater, he heard the faintest "good night" from Jou, but when he turned around, his bedroom door was already shut. (3)

* * *

(1) Yugi tends to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, lol. He's so adorable.

(2) For some odd reason, I've always fantasized about Kaiba driving a stick shift. I dunno. I just think it'd be damn sexy.

(3) Why did the end sound so much like this would be a horror story or something? *shifty eyes*

Well, hope you guys liked it. I'll try my best to not take so long for the next chapter. I always hate writing the beginning of stories because that's when I have to introduce everyone. I also hate how my story looks like poop on a fullscreen computer; I'm always reading it from MS Word or my phone so it looks better. But yeah, please review.


	3. C3: A Negotiation

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Rated T for Teen

* * *

**Author's Note**:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I really can't wait for this semester to be over so I can go on winter break and write more for this story and possibly new puppyshipping stories!

I also forgot to mention that I kept Jou's Brooklyn/Jersey accent because I just love it. I'm from Rhode Island so I'm pretty accustomed to hearing similar accents.

Anyway, thanks again for the support with the reviews, follows and faves.

Here's Chapter 3! :)

* * *

**Chapter 3**:

A Negotiation

* * *

The next morning, Kaiba rolled over as he awoke to the obnoxious sound of punk rock music blaring through the household and groaned as he flung a hand over his eyes. He vaguely wondered if his aging little brother, Mokuba, was going through some sort of puberty-stricken phase, but when his eyes shot open, he took in his surroundings and realized he was not home.

'That's right…,' Kaiba began thinking to himself as he got up from the creaky bed, a shot of pain spreading through his back as he did. 'I left my phone in my car and ended up staying at the mutt's place.'

Last night, the brunet was forced to take his contact lenses out before he slept, and as he glanced around, his vision was blurry. Currently, his contacts were lying on top of the nightstand that was placed beside the bed, shriveled up and useless from the dry air. He sighed and reached over towards the inner pockets of his trench coat, which was lying on top of him and the lavender blanket he had been using, and he grabbed hold of a black, rectangular case that contained his glasses.

He slipped on his black-rimmed, designer glasses and let his eyes adjust to the light that was creeping in through the broken blinds. Through that single window, the sunlight filled the rather vacant room, but it was not warm enough to defeat the unusual frigidness of the bedroom.

Kaiba threw his long legs over the edge of the small bed and looked at the heater that Jou had given him, noticing that although it was still plugged in, it had turned off some time during the evening. He grunted and gave the old device a swift kick, and it rattled a bit until it turned on. He figured that if Jou had been using the same heater as he slept, he'd probably be forced to wake up several times during the night just to kick it like he did to turn it back on.

'Why didn't the dumb mutt just keep the shitty thing for himself instead of giving it to me?' Kaiba thought to himself as he got up and walked towards the window.

He peeked outside and—in contrast to the lush gardens he would see every morning at his mansion—he saw a small, unkempt backyard that contained a worn-down shed, an old swing set and a chain-wired fence that bordered it all. Beyond the backyard, Kaiba's eyes registered what seemed to be endless train tracks surrounded by a vast field of dying grass.

Before he could look around some more, his observations were interrupted by a delectable scent that wafted into the room and invaded his nostrils. Consequently, his stomach grumbled as he realized that he did not eat since lunchtime at school the day before, and he reluctantly stepped out of the room and made his way towards the noisy, music-filled kitchen.

Standing at the entrance of the kitchen, he couldn't help but to let an amused grin grace his face as he stared at the blond who was dancing and doing the air guitar with a spatula as he was cooking fried eggs in a muscle shirt, Duel Monsters pajama pants, and a frilly, pink apron.

In an entertained manner, Kaiba watched Jou swing his hips to the music and dance around the kitchen as he sang his heart out. It was inevitable that soon enough, the CEO would let out a few small chuckles and the blond, who was oblivious to the other's presence, would take notice and scramble backwards into the kitchen counter.

"K-K-Kaiba! What da hell are _you_ doin' hea!?" Jou cried out as he pointed his oily spatula at the brunet. (A/N: Ha…oily spatula)

Kaiba smirked and leaned against the wall. "Don't point your guitar at me, mutt." He chuckled as the redness spread to the blond's ears. "And of course your feeble little mind would forget about letting me stay for the night. Why am I not surprised?"

Jou huffed and regained his composure. "Keywords: 'for da night'." He walked over, turned the music and stove off and roughly splattered the eggs onto a plate. "So why are you still hea, moneybags?"

"Hn, is that any way to treat a guest?" Kaiba arrogantly grinned and walked over to the blond. "Who knew dogs had such bad manners?"

Ignoring the blond who was cussing up a storm and stomping around him, he looked over at the refrigerator that was beside him and rearranged the Duel Monsters magnets so that the Blue Eyes was on top of the Red Eyes.

"Hey! Don't touch my stuff, rich boy!" Jou rushed up beside the taller boy and furiously rearranged the magnets so that the Blue Eyes was on its back and the Red Eyes was hovering over it.

"Dat's how it's suppose ta—" Jou stopped as he looked up at Kaiba.

"What?" Kaiba asked, feeling a little uncomfortable at the small amount of space that was between their faces.

In contrast to his erratically beating heart, his face was emotionless and still as he stared down at the blond. '_What the hell is wrong with me? It's just the mutt!_'

Jou's golden eyes squinted and his face moved closer. "Kaiba…."

"Yes…?"

"When da hell did you start wearin' glasses?"

Kaiba blinked twice as he realized what was really going on, his hand rising and his fingers brushing against the glasses on his face that Jou was so fixated on.

He took a step back and cleared his throat. "Well, you can't sleep with contact lenses on, you dweeb."

"So where are yer contact lenses?" Jou asked as he cutely tilted his head.

"Dried out on the nightstand in that room," Kaiba explained.

Jou frowned. "Why didn't ya put dem in water or somethin'?"

Kaiba groaned and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You're barking quite a lot today. Why are you asking so many questions, mutt?"

The blond rolled his eyes and continued to set up his breakfast. "Those things cost a lot, ya know? I'm just sayin' dat ya coulda put dem in some water or somethin'."

He avoided eye contact as he held back complimenting the brunet on how the spectacles suited him.

Seto leaned against the fridge and crossed his arms. "They were just fifty-thousand yen; it's not a big deal." He glanced at the blond. "A minor expense, I may say." (A/N: That's roughly five hundred US dollars! D:)

"F-Fifty thousand yen!?" Jou cried out as he rushed to the room Kaiba had been sleeping in to retrieve the contacts. "Minor expense, my ass!"

He came running back to the kitchen with his hand sticking out and the contacts carefully placed in his upwards palm. "You damn rich bastard!"

Kaiba's eyebrows raised in amusement as he watched the blond frantically try to save the contacts in a cup of water—only to fail as they crumbled into the glass.

"Nooooo!" Jou screamed as he watched the contacts tumble and break in the water. "Fifty-thousand yen…."

"What the hell's wrong with you, mutt?" Kaiba asked as he walked towards the other. "It's not like those were your contacts."

Jou spun around and slammed the cup on the counter near the sink. "It was still fifty thousand yen! How could you waste yer money like dat!?"

Kaiba sighed. "Mutt, it's not like you could just go ahead and put contacts in water; it's filled with bacteria and microorganisms that could cause serious eye infections." He arched an eyebrow at the pouting blond. "Of course, a commoner like you would never know that."

Jou blushed and then let out an exasperated sigh. "Whateva, moneybags."

He waved a hand of defeat at the CEO and proceeded to grab a clean plate, sitting down at the table and carving his eggs, bacon and toast in half.

"You could do what ya want with yer money, but y'know, you should really learn its' value."

He roughly placed the food onto the other plate and stopped for a few seconds to contemplate on something. Then he awkwardly looked up at the brunet, pulled the chair beside him out and motioned for Kaiba to come sit next to him.

Kaiba took a quick glance over at the glass of water on the counter with his contact lenses in them before he headed over to the seat, registering what had just happened in his head as he remembered he was only at Jou's house because of the project Mokuba and his board members had forced on him. He also recalled Mokuba saying something in regards to the money it would take to make his dueling academy come to life.

'That's right,' he thought as he elegantly sat down next to the blond, 'I'm here for work—nothing else.' He then took a peek at the blond who was devouring his food next to him. 'The value of money, huh….'

"Eat," Jou commanded, violently stabbing a fork into the eggs that were in front of Kaiba and shaking the CEO from his thoughts.

At this, the brunet hesitantly picked up his fork and began to pick at his food as the blond observed him like a hawk.

'I mean…it smells good.' Kaiba thought to himself as he stabbed a piece of egg with his fork. 'But will it taste good?'

The food was poorly presented due to Jou's furious cutting, but as the brunet stared down at it, he realized that it had been a very long time since he had had such a simple meal. Heck, it had been a long time since he had the time to actually sit down and have breakfast. Period.

'When was the last time I had breakfast with Mokuba?' He questioned himself as he lifted the utensil up to further examine the food.

"I didn't poison it—if dat's what yer thinkin', moneybags." Jou dryly said beside him through a mouthful of food.

Rather than replying to the blond, Kaiba snorted and—in an attempt to challenge the other—stuck the fork in his mouth and slowly began to chew. Jou watched the other boy, eagerly awaiting a reaction that would, in his perspective, most likely involve the stuck up CEO spitting out the eggs in disgust and calling it dog food.

To his surprise and also Kaiba's, the brunet swallowed his food, went in for another bite almost immediately after and continued to eat in silence for the next few minutes.

"…not bad."

Jou blinked a few times, not sure of what he had just heard. "What was dat?"

"What are you, deaf?" Kaiba asked, not making eye contact due to embarrassment and continuing to eat his portions. "Get your ears checked by a vet because I'm not going to repeat myself, mutt."

Despite Kaiba's obvious insult, Jou's face lit up with a beautiful smile that displayed his genuine happiness towards the brunet's comment on his cooking. For a few brief seconds, Kaiba's eyes widened at the blond's reaction before he quickly went back to his meal, fighting off the uncharacteristic beating of his heart.

'Did the mutt just _sparkle_!?' Kaiba screamed in his head, proceeding to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 'Note to self: Get new fucking glasses.'

Jou stood up quite proudly. "Awright, let's get goin', moneybags!"

Kaiba finished off the rest of his breakfast and quizzically looked up at Jou. "To the vet?" He raised his eyebrows.

"No, asshole," Jou replied. "I'm gonna take ya to a phone so you can call yer fancy limo service."

"Hmph." Kaiba patted his mouth with a napkin and gracefully stood up from his seat. "Now I can finally get out of this dump."

"Yea'. And I don't have ta see yer ugly mug until I unfortunately go back ta school on Monday." Jou retorted as he went off to his room. "I'm gonna go change. Da bathroom's down da hall if ya wanna wash yer face and stuff."

"Mutt," Kaiba called out to the blond's back.

"What?" Jou spun around, inwardly smacking himself for constantly responding to the demeaning nickname that Kaiba had given him.

"Keep the apron on." Kaiba smirked while he looked the blond up and down. "It suits you."

Katsuya's eyes widened and the blood rose to his face as he finally realized he had been wearing the frilly, pink apron that his boss had given him as a gift. He looked down at his outfit and back up at the chuckling brunet until he screamed "aaagh!" and frantically retreated into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Kaiba found himself walking the streets of Domino, trailing behind the blond who was muttering something about stuck up CEOs.

'I seem to be looking at his back a lot lately,' Kaiba thought to himself as he stared at the back of Jou's thin, blue hoodie. 'No jacket, again?'

"I know I told ya dat the nearest payphone was ten blocks away, but if we go down dat alley, I can take ya ta anotha place, moneybags." Jou said to the brunet, not bothering to turn around to face the other boy as he looked for any cars before crossing the street.

As he was deep in thought, Kaiba did not respond while he continued to gaze at the blond who, once again, had his arms crossed around his chest at an endeavor for warmth as he waited to cross the busy street. He recalled seeing the other boy in the same pose when he was following him just last night, and at this, he wondered what had happened to that hideous green jacket he always wore before.

"!"

Kaiba halted in his tracks, and the dirt and litter underneath his expensive dress shoes fluttered about as he remembered that the homeless man from last night was wearing that same hideous green jacket that Jou had always sported.

'First his food, then his jacket?' Kaiba thought as he sternly walked over to the blond boy. 'Why!?'

The traffic in the street died down, and as Jou began to curiously turn around to check on the silent CEO, he was engulfed in a black cloth that immediately warmed him as it was rudely flung over his face and body.

"What da-!" Jou slowly pulled the cloth down. "…Kaiba?" He called out—only to see that the other boy, who was now without his signature trench coat, was already crossing the street ahead of him.

He ran up beside the brunet as they entered the alleyway, oblivious to the fact that Kaiba already knew where they were going.

"H-hey…" Jou meekly started as he clutched the trench coat to his chest. "Um…."

"…I don't like owing people, mutt." Kaiba did not turn around as he continued down the familiar alleyway.

Jou stopped, blinking a few times as he took in what the other boy was saying. Was Kaiba, perhaps, in his own socially awkward way, trying to _thank_ him for last night?

'Well dat's a side of him I've neva seen before.' He thought to himself as he stared at the other boy's back, which was—as usual—straight as a board.

Katsuya giggled and slid his arms through the long sleeves of the trench coat, and as they reached far over his knuckles, it was quite obvious that the article of clothing was a bit oversized for him. Despite that fact, the blond merrily wrapped the coat around him, inhaling the sweet scent of cologne as he walked or—better yet—skipped behind the brunet.

* * *

When they reached their destination at the end of the alleyway, the blond joyously ran ahead of Kaiba and flung himself onto his boss who was, once again, sweeping the leaves on the pavement in front of his restaurant.

"Matsuo-san!" Jou happily called out as he clung to the man's back.

'So his name is Matsuo….' Kaiba kept his pace and tried his best not to laugh at the strange sight of his trench coat fluttering behind the hyperactive blond.

Matsuo-san laughed and shook the young boy off of him. "Jou-kun! What are you doing here so early?" He gave the blond, who was laughing on the ground, a helping hand. "Have ya come to work, maybe?"

"No way, old man! You ain't connin' me in ta workin' again!" Jou grinned. "I need ta use yer phone!"

The man ruffled Jou's blond hair and his eyebrows perked up as he noticed Kaiba walking towards them.

"Is this your friend, Jou?"

"Oh, dat's right!" Jou's eyes widened and he turned on his heels to face the brunet and introduce them. "Dis is Kaiba."

Kaiba, like the CEO he was, unconsciously observed the man before providing any sort of response. Now that he was close enough, he noticed that Matsuo-san's wrinkled and tired features did not quite match his energetic attitude, and the bags under his eyes were further proof of it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Matsuo-san," Kaiba elegantly said as he held out a confident hand to the man.

"O-Oh!" Matsuo jumped a little and then wiped his free hand on the side of his pants. "Nice to meet you as well, Kaiba-kun!"

Kaiba gave the man his fake, corporate smile and silently shook his hand.

Matsuo grinned. "It's a surprise to see this monkey have such a polite friend."

"If only you knew…," Jou sarcastically muttered under his breath.

"Alright," Matsuo began as he stopped shaking the CEO's hand, "the phone's over in the back. Take Kaiba-kun to it, Jou."

As Jou nodded and Kaiba followed him to the back, he stopped and surveyed the scene that was taking place across the street. "Hey, old man! What's happenin' over dere?"

Matsuo stopped sweeping the leaves again and looked over. "Oh? The tow truck?"

Jou nodded, urging the older man to go on.

"Yeah, some idiot left his car here overnight and parked near a fire hydrant." Matsuo shook his head. "Nice car, though!" He whistled as he observed the luxurious, black car getting hauled onto a tow truck. "What a shame…."

"Damn rich people," Jou replied as he shook his head and continued on to the back door of the restaurant.

'There goes my favorite car….' Kaiba sweatdropped as he walked through the backdoor with Jou.

The back of the restaurant was cozy, consisting of a small office space, a table and a few beige lockers that Kaiba assumed belonged to the workers like Jou. In the corner, there was a refrigerator filled with photos of Matsuo and his workers. He saw a picture of a blushing Jou with Yuki's arm draped over his shoulder and one of his eyes unconsciously twitched at the sight.

"Oh, are you lookin' at da pictures?" Jou asked as he brought a cordless phone over to Kaiba.

"Hmph, why would someone hire a mutt like you?" Kaiba asked, pretending that he had just found out that Jou worked at the restaurant as he snatched the phone out of the blond's hand.

Jou rolled his eyes as he wondered why he even bothered trying to make small talk with the stuck up president of Kaiba Corp. Even so, he grabbed one of the photos of Matsuo-san and smiled at it.

"I guess Matsuo-san's da only guy who would hire me…." His honey colored eyes glazed over in what seemed to be admiration for the old man as he gently stroked the picture with his fingers. "Even after all da other places dat rejected me, Matsuo-san took me in and let me work hea."

The hand that Kaiba had used to snatch the phone slowly went limp by his side as he curiously glanced at the picture that was in Jou's hand. It was a photo of a young Matsuo-san dressed in dirty, denim overalls while standing over a vast field of vegetables. He could see from the picture that the man was very healthy and happy as he grinned and held various farming tools.

"Surprisingly, dat old fart owns a farm too, and dats where we get all our ingredients." Jou let out a small sigh. "Not dat you care, moneybags." He hung the photo back on the fridge and proceeded to the door that led into the restaurant. "Make yer phone call. I'll be out hea in da dinin' room."

"I don't," Kaiba dryly muttered as he watched Jou fling his trench coat over the table and exit the room.

He glanced at the photos again for a brief moment and then went on to use the phone, opting to call Mokuba before his driver because he figured the boy would be worried sick.

Before the phone could dial twice, the person on the other end picked up and frantically gave the CEO a shrill, "hello!?"

Kaiba jerked his head away from the phone as pain shot through his ears. "It's me, Mokuba…."

"Nii-sama! Are you alright!? What happened to you!?"

"Yes, Mokuba. I'm fine…." Kaiba groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes. "Please stop yelling."

"Sorry…." Mokuba said as he lowered his voice. "But I was worried sick, y'know! You didn't pick up your phone at all last night. What the heck happened, Seto?"

Kaiba went on to explain to his little brother about how he was observing—not stalking—Jounouchi for his project, omitting the parts where the blond had his heart beating faster than usual.

"So…." Mokuba began. "after you finished stalking—"

"Observing," Kaiba chimed in.

"Right." Mokuba replied. "So after you finished _observing_ Jou, you ended up staying at his place because you left your phone in your car?"

"Yes."

For what seemed to be a rather long moment to Kaiba, there was silence on the other end.

"…Mokuba? Are you there?" He asked, looking at the phone and checking if Mokuba's cell phone number was still on the caller ID.

"THIS IS PERFECT!"

Kaiba jumped and his back hit the wall behind him. "What the fu—" He put the phone back to his ear. "Mokuba!?"

He heard a strange cackle on the other end. "Nii-sama, don't you dare come back home or to the company!"

"W-What!?" Kaiba blurted out, looking around to see if there was anyone around to witness him cowering before his thirteen-year old brothers' erratic behavior. "Mokuba…, if this is about me pinching some of your allowance last month, I'm sorry."

"…What? No!" Mokuba cried out. "I'm saying don't come back and stay at Jou's for your project, nii-sama."

Now it was time for Seto to start yelling.

"Are you insane!?" He regained his composure. "I am not staying at the mutt's place!"

"Hm, for the CEO of Kaiba Corp, you sure take your work lightly, nii-sama." Mokuba provokingly said as he twirled his hair with his fingers.

"What? No, I don't!" Kaiba hissed, now regretting the fact that he had called Mokuba before his driver.

"Anyway, I just messaged your secretary and forbid all driving service for you." The younger Kaiba happily said. "So what was that about not staying at Jou's?"

"Mokuba…." Kaiba said through gritted teeth. "When I come back, I swear I will—"

Before he could finish his threat, the younger Kaiba had already hung up on him.

"I'm going to kill that kid," Kaiba growled.

Kaiba jumped as the phone rang and displayed Mokuba's phone number.

"Mokuba!?"

"Oh, and don't think I didn't hear the thing about my allowance. Have fun with Jou, nii-sama!" Mokuba said before he hung up again.

Kaiba smacked his forehead and let out a deep sigh as he violently slammed the phone back onto the receiver that was on the desk. He could feel his blood boiling with every passing second that he was not working, and he wasn't sure how long he could last before he completely blew up. It also didn't help that his little brother, Mokuba, was going through some defiant stage and was taking it all out on him.

But what could he do? He had already agreed to complete this project for the duration of three weeks, and he wasn't exactly the type to just go back on his word.

"I could fire all of them…." Kaiba muttered to himself.

He shook his head. 'No, no! That was what got me into this mess in the first place!'

"Kaiba…?"

Kaiba straightened himself up and stoically turned around to face Jou. "What do you want, mutt?"

"Not a mutt!" Jou screamed. "Did you call yer stupid limo yet? Matsuo-san made us some tea." He gave the CEO a sour look. "Not dat I care if ya want any."

'Tea sounds nice right now…' Kaiba thought.

"Hmph, as long as _you_ didn't make it, mutt." He retorted, despite what his actual thoughts were.

Jou rolled his eyes. 'Well, dere goes his nice streak,' he thought to himself as he eyed the black trench coat that was lying on the break-room table.

"Come on den, ya jerk." Jou commanded, ushering Kaiba to follow him into the restaurant.

Kaiba quickly glanced over at the phone that he had just been using before he followed Jou into the dining area. He went over what had just happened with his little brother and wondered how in the world he was going to convince Jou to let him stay at his place for three weeks.

As he stepped into the restaurant after Jou, he took in the humble atmosphere of deep, maroon colored walls and cherry-wood tables decorated with fine white cloths and blue orchid centerpieces. In one of the corners was a bar, consisting of many fine wines and liquors from all over the world—stacking tall on the wooden shelves that sat against the wall.

Jou, as if to contrast the sophisticated scenery, roughly sat down at one of the tables and sat Indian style on his chair.

"Come on, moneybags." He lightly banged his hand on the table. "Sit."

"The dog shouldn't be giving his master orders." Kaiba quipped.

Jou supported his head on the palm of his hand as he gave Kaiba an unimpressed look. "Just sit down and drink yer damn tea, rich boy."

Kaiba sat down, still thinking about what he was going to say to Jou in regards to Mokuba's insanity.

"Mu—"

"Jou-chan!"

The brunet irritatingly turned his head towards the voice that so rudely interrupted him, and before he could open his mouth and tell the person to shut the fuck up, Jou quickly straightened up in his seat and smiled at the intruder.

"Yuki-senpai!" Jou exclaimed. "G-good mornin'!"

'Why is this more annoying than it was yesterday?' Kaiba thought to himself as he sat across from Jou with his arms crossed.

"Mornin'" Yuki winked, causing Jou's face to turn into a light shade of pink. "Uncle told me you wanted some tea?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Please. If you can." Jou stammered. "S-senpai." He nervously smiled.

Kaiba's eye twitched and he gave Jou a disgusted look. 'He's more obvious than a gushing school girl!'

Yuki's handsome features were accentuated by the dim lights and a low chuckle that he let escape from his lips. "Of course. Anything for you, Jou-chan."

'Someone give me a fucking bucket so I can vomit.' Kaiba thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and proceeded to glare at a wall.

The CEO's eyes quickly darted to the blond who was smiling at Yuki's retreating back. "You seem happy, mutt."

Jou's eyes widened and he jumped, turning back to the brunet. "O-oh. Yeah." He scratched little circles onto the table with his fingertip. "…I like tea."

"Hmph, I don't think that's the only thing you li—"

Before he could finish, he was—once again—rudely interrupted as a tea set and small desserts were elegantly placed before them by Yuki.

Kaiba glared at the raven-haired boy, and Yuki gave him a lovely, but somewhat fake, smile in return. "Well, my apologies. I didn't see you sitting there earlier." He turned to Jou. "Is this your friend, Jou-chan?"

Jou jumped up and Kaiba could imagine dog ears perking on top of his head.

Through a mouthful of treats, the blond exclaimed, "Oh yeah!" He swallowed and took a swig of tea. "Dis is Kaiba. He's my…school…mate."

Yuki's emerald eyes glistened with a strange attentiveness towards Jou's introduction. "Pardon me if I'm wrong but…you don't mean _the_ Seto Kaiba of Kaiba Corp, do you?"

"What of it?" Kaiba coldly asked.

"Oh!" Yuki smiled and held out a hand to Kaiba. "Well, I'm just a fan, is all."

Kaiba's eyes darted to the hand and he decided to ignore the raven-haired boy's gesture as he poured a cup of tea for himself and took a graceful sip.

"Don't be this asshole's fan, senpai." Jou said through another mouthful of sweets.

Kaiba looked up from his cup as the others continued their conversation about nothing particularly important to him. As he further observed the older boy, he felt that he looked familiar, but he could not figure out why.

'I don't remember knowing anyone by the name of Yuki…' Kaiba took another sip. 'Or any college students,' he thought as he heard Yuki talking about the art school that he was attending.

"Mutt." Kaiba interrupted.

Jou frowned. "I'm not a mutt, moneybags! What da hell do ya want now?"

Yuki chuckled. "What cute nicknames." He ignored Jou's frantic protests and proceeded to take his leave. "I'll leave you two alone. See ya, Jou-chan."

He glanced over at Kaiba with his green eyes and the brunet could not register the strange flicker of emotion that danced across those orbs. "You too, Kaiba-kun."

Kaiba shook off the bizarre feeling that the raven-haired boy had given him, deciding that there were more important matters to be taken care of.

"Mutt."

Jou took in a deep, frustrated breath and pouted. "How many times do I have ta tell you, I am not a—"

"Let me stay with you," Kaiba interrupted, opting for the direct method.

Jou choked on his desserts and took giant gulps of his tea as his heart rate quickened at what sounded like a confession from Kaiba's end.

"W-wha!?" He cleared his throat and looked up at Kaiba with confusion and redness plastered all over his face.

Kaiba sighed and ran a hand through his hair, oblivious to how Jou was interpreting his previous demand. "They're not coming."

"Who's not comin'?"

"My fucking drivers." Kaiba impatiently snapped back.

"What da heck does dat have ta do with me, moneybags?" Jou retorted. "You could walk, can't ya?"

To Jou's dismay, Kaiba grew silent and made him uncomfortable. He watched the CEO's eyes flash around the restaurant as he seemed to be contemplating something.

"…One hundred million yen." (A/N: Roughly $100,000. Just missing 243,000 yen, but I'm not gonna get all OCD, lol.)

Jou gave the brunet an incredulous look. "P-pardon?"

Kaiba crossed his legs and looked straight into Jou's honey colored orbs. 'That's right, this is just another business negotiation,' he thought as a method of motivation.

"I will give you one hundred million yen if you let me stay with you for three weeks."

"W-wha!? No way, moneybags! What's da deal with you all of a sudden? Why would ya wanna stay with me?"

Unfazed by the barrage of questions, Kaiba calmly replied, "I can't go back to my home or my company so let me stay with you for three weeks and one hundred million yen will be yours, mutt."

With that amount of money, Jou thought, he would be able to pay off the rest of the debt and bills collected throughout the years by his father. And with the leftovers, he'd be able to work less and focus on his schoolwork and graduating with his friends.

'But is it worth stayin' with dis stuck up jerk?' He asked himself as he gave the brunet a suspicious look.

"Why can't ya stay at a hotel or somethin', rich boy?"

"They'll find me there."

"Who's dey?" Jou frowned. "Who da hell did ya piss off now, moneybags?"

"None of your business," Kaiba responded.

'If I told him it was Mokuba, he'd be in hysteria.' Kaiba grudgingly thought to himself and imagined Jou rolling on the floor in bouts of laughter. 'It'd be worse if I told him the truth about this stupid project.'

"What about Mokuba?" Jou chimed in as he remembered the younger and nicer of the two Kaiba brothers. "Is he okay?"

'And this is where he gets hooked.' Kaiba inwardly smirked.

"He'll be fine as long as I try my best to stay away from him for three weeks." He gave Jou a serious look. "That's where you come in, mutt."

Jou gave the brunet a tired sigh. "Seriously?" He slouched down on his seat. "You Kaiba brothers are really somethin', ya know dat?" He pointed at Kaiba with a croissant and then viciously took a bite out of it.

Kaiba rested his chin on the back of his hands. "So is that a yes, mutt?"

Jou slowly chewed while he glowered at the brunet. Although he was genuinely concerned for Mokuba's wellbeing, he couldn't help but to think about the other part of the offer, which involved the incredible amount of money Kaiba would give him if he said yes. It would help him get through the school year, and, with his not so materialistic tendencies, he would be easily be able to get through several years of financial contentment.

Without further question for the strange and unclear situation that Kaiba had presented upon him, the blond swallowed the rest of his croissant and gave the CEO an intense look.

"Yes."

* * *

Well, there's chapter three! Lots of cute stuff goin' on between our boys.

Please review! I'd like to know how this story is doing; it's a great motivation for my writing!


	4. C4: The Contract

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Rated T for Teen

* * *

**Authors Note:**

Like always, thank you all for the support with the reviews, follows and faves!

There are a few reviews I'd like to respond to now:

**Lexicat**: Thank you! Y'know, Kaiba lets Mokuba get kidnapped way too much XD The kid needs/deserves a damn backbone. I love portraying him like that as well.

**Mika-Chan**: Are you the one stackin' up my views with yer damn same IP Address!? Lol, thank you. ;)

**Smells-Like-Mary**: Right? Screw Yuki! I can't wait for Seto to pounce on that mutt's ass too XD

**Phoenie**: Thanks! I was trying to go for a cute kind of vibe, haha.

And to the rest, again, thank you for the support!

**P.S.**

I'm not really sure how I feel about it yet, but I've written a new puppyshipping story. Rated M for sex and language and violence and what have you. If anyone's interested, of course. *shifty eyes*

* * *

**Chapter 4**:

The Contract

* * *

After another stressful and undesirable phone call with his little brother, Mokuba, Kaiba slipped out of the break room and made his way to the front of the restaurant where Jou and Matsuo-san were waiting at the entrance.

"Are you boys heading out now?"

"Yeah. Thanks for lettin' us use da phone, old man." Jou's eyes lit up. "Oh! And da tea too. Thanks for dat." He gave the man a sheepish grin and then glanced over at Kaiba as if to urge him to thank the man like he just did.

"Lets go," Kaiba commanded as he ignored the look Jou was giving him. He peered down at the black trench coat that he was clenching with his hand, and then looked back up at Jou to once again offer—or throw it—to the blond. "Mutt, take thi—"

Before Kaiba could finish, he stopped as he saw a lavish, black coat getting thrust in front of Jou's unsuspecting face by none other than Yuki.

Jou blinked and pushed down the coat that was being held in front of him and obstructing his view. "Senpai?" He looked at Yuki with curious eyes.

"You don't have a jacket, right?" Yuki smiled and circled around Jou as he draped the expensive coat around the blond. "You're gonna need one; it's pretty cold out there." As if to challenge him, the older boy looked up at Seto with a handsome smirk laced on his face while his hands suggestively brushed against Jou's body.

By just a small amount, Kaiba's eyebrows perked up at this. 'What the hell is this?' He thought to himself as Yuki's smirked only grew bigger. 'Is he attempting to provoke me?'

"Ah! I can do it myself!" Jou cried out as he blushed and thrusted his arms through the sleeves. "Yeesh, I'm not some kinda kid, y'know…." He pouted. "Come on. Let's go, Kaiba."

Kaiba snorted and he raised his chin up in a haughty manner. 'Hmph, as if I would get upset over a stupid act like that.' He elegantly slipped on his own trench coat and said goodbye to the smiling Matsuo-san.

As he passed by Yuki, he could have sworn he heard the faintest, "see you later, Kaiba," but when he looked back to give the older boy a signature death glare, he was already walking away.

* * *

"Ugh, I can't believe dat outta all da people I could be spending a Saturday aftanoon with, I'm stuck walkin' around with da stuck up rich boy." Jou complained loud enough for the trailing brunet to hear.

Kaiba, a little more irritated than he expected to be by his entire experience at the restaurant, walked briskly behind the blond. "Hn, I'm not exactly so thrilled myself, mutt. Actually, you could say that the feeling is quite mutual."

"Mutual, shmutual." Jou turned his head to face the brunet as they stopped to cross a street. "All I know is dat if yer gonna be livin' wit' _me_, yer gonna follow_ my_ rules, ya got dat?"

Kaiba smirked. "Quite the contrary, you dumb dog." He crossed the street before he could get hit by Jou's flying fist. "The deal was that if I could live with you for three weeks, a hundred million yen will be yours."

"Now, I'm going to ask you to do the impossible and use your puny little brain for this question." He towered over the blond as they stopped at the sidewalk. "Who do you think holds the upper hand here, mutt?"

Jou stopped and looked up at the brunet with his lively honey colored eyes. They stared each other down for what seemed to be an eternity to Jou until he finally let out a defeated sigh. "Why are you such a jerk?" He muttered as he turned his heel and continued walking in an unknown direction.

"Hn, in case you forgot, mutt, your house is that way." Kaiba jerked his head towards the direction of Jou's home. "And here I thought dogs had a good sense of direction."

Jou spun around furiously. "Aaggh! Would you jus' shut yer trap fer like five damn seconds, ya rich bastard!?" He heaved as the steam came brimming out of his ears. "I'm not takin' ya home yet!"

"Then would you care to enlighten me and tell me _where_ we are going, mutt?" Kaiba impatiently asked as they turned a corner.

Jou pointed at a nearby shopping mall as he cried out in an irritated manner. "Dere, dere! We are goin' _dere_! Ya happy now, moneybags!?" He pulled at his blond locks and wildly shook his head. "Yer drivin' me off da wall hea!"

"And what business does a proletariat like you have here?" Kaiba questioned as he frowned at the mall.

'Just how am I gonna live with dis asshole for three whole weeks!?' Jou screamed in his head.

"Well, fer someone so damn smart, yer really kinda dumb, huh?" Jou started, ignoring the glare that was being sent his way. "Obviously, if ya can't go back home, yer gonna need to buy some clothes and supplies." He gave the brunet a bitter look. "Everythin's not just gonna be handed to ya now like always."

Kaiba's hands clenched into tight fists. 'Handed to me? Does this loser really believe that he knows me and all the hardships Mokuba and I have been through!? All the pain and suffering that Gozaburo put us through and what I had to do to be where I am today!?'

'What the fuck does he know!?' Kaiba was ready to confront the blond who was standing in front of him with one hand in his pocket as he glared at the CEO, but instead, he opted to just walk ahead as he remembered something that Mokuba had said to him during their last phone call.

"_Try not to fight with Jou, okay, niisama?"_

"Let's go then, mutt." Kaiba commanded, not even giving the blond a glance.

Jou's muscles relaxed as his eyebrows curiously rose up. 'Why didn't he say anythin'?' He questioned himself as they stepped into the warm shopping mall. 'Eh, betta not ask and jus' avoid anotha fight.' He shrugged.

'Unless he's plannin' ta ambush me!?' The blond put himself in a defensive stance as he intensely stared at Kaiba's back.

When Kaiba stepped into the mall, he instantly regretted his decision to not fight with Jou and reject the idea of going shopping as he was bombarded with brightly lit holiday decorations hanging from the ceilings and Christmas music blaring from the overhead speakers.

'It's still fucking November,' Kaiba thought as he cringed at the sight. 'I absolutely hate this time of year.'

"I'm going in here, mutt." Kaiba said as he pointed at a high-end store filled with expensive looking clothes.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"N-Nothing, y-ya jerk…" Jou stammered as he lowered his arms. He glanced at the store that Kaiba was heading into, and he could have sworn he felt his wallet attempting to escape from his pocket and run off at the mere sight of the extravagant store. "I-I'm goin' hea!" He yelled back as he pointed at a much more reasonably priced store.

Kaiba ignored the blond as they went their separate ways. He went into the high-end store and was greeted quite profusely from the moment he stepped foot in there. He assumed that they knew who he was, and he rudely brushed off any offers of assistance from the workers that were desperate for the CEO's attention.

He quickly picked out some dress shirts, sweaters and pants—not even bothering to take a peek at any of the price tags—and then made his way to the cashier.

"H-hello, sir! W-was everything t-to your liking today?" The worker stammered out as the other workers stood behind him, whispering to each other about how _the_ Seto Kaiba was shopping at their store.

The only reply Kaiba could offer was a small grunt as the cashier rung him up.

"That will be ¥ 593,000, sir." (A/N: Roughly $5750 (US))

Kaiba took out his wallet and randomly chose one of his many credit cards to swipe. He didn't bother to wait for the receipt as he snatched the bags off the table and began to walk away.

"S-Sir! Wait!"

Before he could reply and say he didn't need the damn receipt, the worker urged him to come back and said, "Y-your card was declined, sir. D-do you have another form of payment, perhaps?"

'Are you fucking kidding me?' Kaiba thought to himself as he went back and furiously began to swipe a different credit card, almost breaking the card machine off its' stand.

"T-this one was also declined, sir." The cashier nervously stated as the others began to whisper and say that maybe it wasn't Seto Kaiba standing in front of them.

"I mean he looks like him…." One of the gossipers said. "Did he always wear glasses…?"

The other's eyes widened. "Omigod, like, what if he's like an imposter or something?" She asked quite loudly as the gum she was chewing snapped in her face.

Kaiba's eye began to twitch as he swiped each and every one of his credit cards—only to get declined over and over again. 'What the fuck is this!?'.

Did a thief actually manage to steal his credit information and max out or cancel all of his credit cards? He thought as he swiped his last card, which was his debit card with his real money in it.

'But the only person who would be capable of such a thing is—'

"I-it's declined again, sir. Are you sure you don't want to call your credit card company…?"

"Mokuba…." He growled.

"P-pardon?" The cashier asked in a worried tone.

He slammed the bags of clothes on the counter and hastily made his way out of the store and to the nearest payphone station in the mall.

On his way to the payphone station, he was stopped by a person wearing a Babycerasaurus costume.

"Why hello there, young man! The sales are going on 'til Christmas so what's the big rush!?" The mascot giggled and did a little dance.

"Fuck off, Barney!" Kaiba spat out as he continued on his journey.

"Jeez, what's his problem?" The mascot asked himself as he took off the head of his suit to reveal a teary eyed Ryuzaki. "This job frikkin' sucks…."

* * *

When Kaiba finally reached a payphone, he roughly inserted the money needed, and then the machine took the unnecessarily harsh beating of his fingers as he dialed his little brothers cell phone number.

"Hello~?" Mokuba answered quite giddily.

"You little…Don't you 'hello~' me!" The CEO growled out, ignoring the strange looks that passing people were giving him. "What the hell did you do to my cards, Mokuba?"

"Uh, I am so hurt, Seto…." Mokuba whimpered. "Why is it that I'm the first person you accuse?" Kaiba could imagine the smirk plastered all over his little brother's face.

"Cut the shit, Mokuba. First you force me into this ridiculous project. Then you con me into staying with that filthy mutt for three weeks. And now, you've gone to my finances!? This has gone too far, and my patience is wearing very fucking thin."

At his older brother's threatening tone, Mokuba cowered a bit and ceased spinning in Kaiba's office chair. "I only did it to help you, niisama…."

Seto sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair, feeling a bit guilty for lashing out on his little brother. "And how exactly does this _help_ me, Mokuba?" He asked as he lightened his tone a bit.

"Well, you're never gonna learn anything if you could still buy whatever you want…." Mokuba explained.

The brunet was silent for a moment as he remembered what Jou had said about everything being handed to him. 'This again?'

"Save me the philosophies, Mokuba; I rightfully earned that money on my own, and I know how much work I put in to acquire it."

"I'm not backing down on this one, Seto." Mokuba replied. "The entire point of this project was for you to learn how to empathize with people. You can't do that with limitless credit cards!"

"Alright, then what do _you_ suggest I do for the clothes and supplies I need for the next three weeks?"

"Well…I did leave some money on your debit card…." Mokuba answered quite nervously.

Seto's mood escalated a bit at the good news. "How much did you leave?"

"…F-fifty-thousand…yen." (A/N: $500)

Before Seto could yell at Mokuba for the ridiculously small amount of money he had left him with, the younger Kaiba quickly said he had something to take care of and hung up the phone. Kaiba fished in his pockets for any extra change, only to be met with his wallet that was full of useless credit cards.

'Fifty-thousand yen.' Kaiba thought as he turned around and dragged his feet away from the payphone station. 'What the fuck am I supposed to do with fifty-thousand fucking yen!?' He screamed in his mind as he thought about the scene with Jou that morning, where the blond was scolding him for being so frivolous with his money and throwing away his contact lenses that cost the same.

As he walked ahead, he saw said blond standing in front of a store that he would probably never step foot into. He was staring at a mannequin that was sporting a black pea coat and various winter accessories.

Seto watched the other boy as he pulled out his worn down, wrinkly wallet and sigh at the amount of money that was in there.

Kaiba called out to the blond's back. "Mutt."

Jou did a little jump and then turned around. "Oh, Kaiba…." He shoved his wallet into one of the pockets of the coat Yuki had given him and then looked at Kaiba's empty hands. "Ya didn't buy anythin' from yer fancy store?"

"No, I didn't like anything." Kaiba replied as he pushed his designer glasses up his nose.

Jou raised a brow as he glanced over at the store Kaiba had just went in, thinking that all the sweaters and dress shirts displayed in the window were definitely of the CEO's snotty tastes.

"Well, ugh…." He blinked a few times. "Do ya wanna…maybe…go in hea…?" Jou awkwardly pointed at the store behind him.

'I've already been dragged around at this mutt's pace and Mokuba's for the last two days; what the fuck could this hurt?' He thought to himself.

"Hmph, why not?" Kaiba's dress shoes clicked against the floor as he stiffly walked towards the store. "It may be interesting to have a first hand experience of a proletariats' awful fashion sense."

Jou rolled his eyes. "Could ya ever say anythin' nice?"

"And do you always ask dumb questions that you already know the answers to, mutt?" Kaiba snapped back.

"Whateva." Jou answered as he looked through some racks of clothing. "Hey…." He pulled out a plaid shirt. "This actually might look kinda nice on ya, moneybags." He thrust the shirt in front of Kaiba's chest and rubbed his chin in deep thought.

Kaiba glowered at the shirt in distaste as he pushed it away from him. "As if I'd ever get caught wearing something as hideous as that."

"Oh…," Jou started as he began to put it back in the rack. "Too bad. It was on sale fer ¥ 1450. Not dat dat matters to you or anything since you could probably buy out dis entire store."

Suddenly, Kaiba heard Mokuba's voice ringing through his head. '_Fifty-thousand yen…_.'

He gave out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "…Give me the shirt, mutt."

Jou did a double take. "W-what?"

"The shirt." Kaiba motioned his hands in an impatient manner. "Give me the fucking shirt."

"Okay, okay." Jou answered as he grabbed the plaid shirt. "Hea, ya jerk." He handed the CEO the shirt.

Kaiba snatched the plaid shirt away and gave it the same look of disgust he had earlier. "Go find me some more clothes, mutt."

"What? Are ya gonna buy 'em just ta wipe yer ass with or somethin', moneybags?" Jou frowned.

"No, I'm going to fucking wear them." Kaiba spat back. "Because that's what you do with clothes, dweeb; you fucking wear them."

"Alright, alright. Yeesh." Jou replied before he walked off and muttered something about being forced to be a personal shopper for a stuck up jerk.

Kaiba walked off in a different direction and picked out whatever wouldn't make him look like a complete dweeb in his opinion, all the while ignoring the shocked looks of the workers and customers who were gossiping around him. He made his way to the coat department, and his eyes widened at the sight of the coat that Jou was staring at earlier.

'Did the mutt want this ugly thing?' He asked himself as his fingers brushed against the black pea coat. He gracefully picked up the tag with his index finger and read ¥5,000. 'He doesn't have enough for even this little amount…?'

For reasons very much unknown to him, he grabbed the coat out of the rack and made sure that Jou wasn't looking. When he saw that Jou was keeping himself occupied by attempting to get a highly placed sweater by jumping like a monkey and knocking things over, Kaiba went over to the cashier and quickly purchased the coat.

After he finished the purchase and grabbed the bag, he made his way over to Jou and effortlessly grabbed the sweater that the blond was desperately jumping for. "You're a dog—not a monkey. Quit jumping around like that, mutt."

"S-Shuddup, ya damn jerk!" Jou turned red as he pouted at the brunet and shoved a handful of clothes at him. "Yer da one who wanted me ta shop fer you. If you coulda jus' _not_ been so damn _picky_, I wouldn't be doin' dis!"

Kaiba glanced at the sweater he had just gotten and thought that it wouldn't be such a horrible thing to wear.

'So the mutt was actually considering my tastes….' Kaiba thought as he brushed off the unusual happy feeling that came over him.

"Oh, you bought somethin' already, moneybags?" Jou curiously asked as he looked at the bag hanging from Kaiba's right hand.

Kaiba's heart skipped a beat as he remembered how he had just bought the coat for the blond, and he was a little embarrassed as he snatched the clothes out of Jou's hand. "It's none of your business, mutt." He coldly replied as he walked towards the cashier again to pay for the clothes that Jou had picked out for him.

"That'll be ¥ 25,000, sir." (A/N: Roughly $250)

The brunet glanced down at the exceptional pile of clothing stacked on top of the counter and nodded. 'Not bad….' The other half of his expenses, he thought to himself, would go to other things like toiletries and food.

'Dat's how much I make in a week an' a half!' Jou cried in his head as he watched Kaiba painlessly swipe his card. 'Rich bastard….'

After half praying that the card would not get declined in front of the blond and then holding back a sigh of relief when the receipt printed out, Kaiba snatched the bags off of the counter and made his way towards the entrance to leave.

He glimpsed down at the bag that contained the pea coat that he bought for Jou, and then he gulped and decided to give it to the blond boy. "Hey, mu—uh!"

Suddenly, Kaiba was forcefully ambushed and pushed into a rack of clothing as he heard a familiar voice yelling, "Jou!" from outside of the store.

"Y-Yugi!" Jou nervously yelled back as he ran past the CEO and to his best friend who was joyously waving from across the mall.

When they stopped in front of each other, out of breath and grinning, Yugi looked up with his large violet eyes and asked, "What's up, Jou? What are you doing here?"

Jou scratched the back of his head and continued grinning. "N-nothin' much, Yug'. J-jus' some holiday shoppin'. Y'know, dat kinda stuff…. What about you?"

"Mm, same thing." Yugi smiled. "Was it just me, or was there someone else with you, Jou?" Yugi asked innocently as he moved his head to the side to look into the store.

"N-no! Of course not!" Jou moved in front of Yugi's view and nervously laughed. "It's jus' me! All by my lonesome self! Ha…ha-ha!"

The shorter boy ceased trying to look and raised a brow at his best friend's strange behavior. "Well, alright then…." He looked behind him and then looked back at Jou. "Well, I'm gonna go find Yami; I don't want him to get lost and sit in the security office for hours like last time we were here." Yugi sweatdropped.

"O-okay, see ya, Yugi!"

Yugi was about to step away until his face lit up. "Ne, Jou. Are you still coming over?"

"W-wha?" Jou stuttered out as he remembered he had promised Yugi and Yami that he'd come over to hang out during the weekend. "Yeah! Of course!"

"Wanna come with us now then?" Yugi smiled. "I got a bunch of new cards we could trade."

Jou jumped up. "Awesome! Yeah, alright. I'll go now, Yug'." He looked back at the store he was just in and then rested a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Lemme jus' go back in dat store. I think I fergot somethin'."

"Okay! I'll be at that store, Jou!"

'Kaiba's gonna wring my freakin' neck!' Jou thought to himself as the sweat dripped down his forehead and he made his way back into the store.

"So what's the big deal, mutt?" He heard Kaiba growl out from the corner of the store. "I don't think pushing the CEO of Kaiba Corp is quite a bright idea, but nonetheless, you aren't a very bright one anyway."

"Oh, get over it, ya jerk!" Jou spat back as he flung his house-keys at Kaiba. "I'm goin' to Yugi's house so jus' find yer way back and do whateva it is dat you do wit' yer free time!"

Kaiba glimpsed down at the keys and then held up the bag that contained Jou's new coat and frowned. "Fine." He shoved the keys into his pocket and walked out of the store.

"D-Don't botha waitin' up fer me, moneybags!" Jou joked as he felt a pang of guilt for leaving the CEO alone.

"Whatever, mutt."

'Why should I feel bad for him?' He asked himself as he stared at the fading back of the brunet. 'He's just a dumb, miserable jerk….'

"Nope, I don't feel bad at all." He continued staring. "Not one bit…."

* * *

After stopping by a convenience store to pick up some other things, Kaiba found his way back to the house with little to no effort as his superior memory did not fail him. He shoved the keys into the doorknob and was a bit thrown off by how easily he could get into the house; he was so accustomed to the hi-tech systems at his home that required his fingerprints and eye-scans to even get in.

"What's this…?" He asked as he kicked a random box that was lying on the floor in front of him. He picked up the note on top.

_Dear Seto,_

_Sorry for everything. I know it's been hard on you the last couple of days, but stay strong!_

_Love, _

_Mokie_

_P.S. _

_There's a meeting tonight for the academy preparations if you want to sit in. 'Cause I know how much you loooove meetings, niisama! _

_…I'm still the boss, though._

_Love again,_

_Mokie_

As he smiled, he placed the note down gently and opened the large box. On top was his laptop and its' accessories: a KC mouse, a webcam, a small printer and a pair of state of the art headphones. This was how he was going to listen in on the meeting that Mokuba was speaking of. Underneath his expensive laptop were some of his clothes and shoes, which also included his extra school uniform. There were also two cell phones—one for him and the other, he assumed, for Jou.

He let out a small chuckle before he brought the box and all of his bags to his new room for the next few weeks. Then, he stopped in front of the doorway and peered down at the box he had just put down.

"…How did he get into the house…?"

* * *

When Jou finally arrived home, it was already pretty late in the evening. He shuffled into the house with a giddy look on his face because he had gotten some new Duel Monsters cards to add to his deck.

As he kicked off his shoes, he hit another pair with his right foot and looked down. "Oh yeah…" He peered down at the pricey dress shoes beneath him. "Dat jerk is hea." He cringed and made his way down the dark hallway

"…Moneybags?" He called out as he walked down the hall. "I-I'm…home?" He stated very awkwardly as he was not very accustomed to having another person to come home to.

He turned on the hallway light and then his eyebrows perked up at the sight of a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen pinned onto his door.

"What's dis…?" He took the paper and pen off the door and read it. "Contract of temporary residence between Seto Kaiba and Jounouchi…_Mutt_." He sweatdropped.

_I, __sign name here__, agree to allow my master, Seto Kaiba, live at my dump of a home for the next three weeks without further complications and with the utmost discretion. Furthermore, I will only receive my payment of one hundred million yen at the end of the last day, ultimately accruing three weeks of Seto Kaiba's temporary residence._

_x __Seto Kaiba__

_x _

His eyes twitched rapidly as he looked at Seto's elegant signature at the end of the contract and the line underneath where he was supposed to sign himself.

"…Kaiba! What da hell do ya—" Suddenly, Jou tripped over a bag that was lying against the wall. "…Now what!?" He furiously snatched up the bag, half expecting it to be some sort of trap set up by the brunet. "I swear, dis betta not be some kinda—"

His eyes widened as he pulled out the black pea coat that he was staring at earlier in the day. "—trap…." His hand that was holding the contract went limp as he fully pulled the coat out of the bag and examined it.

"Did he…buy this fer me…?" His words were a bit strained as a surge of emotion washed over him, and he remembered that Kaiba had bought something before he bought the clothes Jou had picked out for him. 'It's definitely my size….'

The blond, overcome by happiness, rushed over to Kaiba's room, almost slipping on the cracked hardwood floors. He then proceeded to loudly knock on the closed door.

"Kaiba! Kaiba!" He continued knocking, but a little softer this time. "Da coat! I….jus'…t-thank you!" When Kaiba didn't answer, Jou assumed that the other was asleep.

"Thank you…." He smiled softly and clenched the coat to his chest. "…Good night, Kaiba…."

Inside the room, a smiling CEO ceased his swift typing and looked up from his laptop and towards the door. And in the morning, said CEO will wake up, open his door and be welcomed by a fluttering piece of paper as it fell to the floor to reveal his elegant signature and the blond's chicken scratch handwriting.

x _Seto Kaiba__

x Jounouchi KATSUYA (Mutt)

* * *

Hope you guys liked it! Please review! I'm not really sure how this story is doing anymore, and it's great motivation!


	5. C5: An Announcement

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Rated T for Teen

* * *

**Author's Note**:

Hey guys! Thanks again for all the feedback. The story is going to start progressing a little quicker now that I've introduced most of what I needed to. Sorry again for the wait. I know I said school was over, but working in retail during this season is killer. Does anyone know of a job where I don't have to deal with other human beings?

Lol, kidding….

Anyway, no more of that. Here's chapter five!

* * *

**Chapter 5**:

An Announcement

* * *

"Hey guys…?"

In the midst of another school day, the gang sat at their usual table during their hour lunch break. Yugi reluctantly looked up from his cheeseburger, which was the most favorite of all his foods, to answer his friend, Otogi, who had just called upon the audience of the group. "Yes, Otogi-kun? What's up?" He quickly went back to devouring his burger in the most polite way he could while Yami chuckled beside him and admired his aibou.

"Yeah," Ryou began as he seated himself next to Bakura. "Is something wrong, Otogi-kun?"

Ryuji shifted his eyes a bit and moved his face closer to his friends, his dice earrings swinging back and forth with him. "D-don't you think that Kaiba's been kinda…I dunno…." His face scrunched up as he thought. "…_weird_?"

_Twitch_

With this, Honda averted his attention away from his lunch and replied, "Yeah! It's almost like he's…he's an actual human being or something, ya know?" He took a sloppy bite of his sandwich, making Otogi suck his teeth and clean off the mess he had just made on his face with a napkin.

_Twitch_

"You guys!" Yugi scolded. "That's not a nice thing to say!"

Anzu frowned as she looked up from her compact mirror. "Yugi's right. Kaiba may be a heartless, inconsiderate and thoughtless jerk, but he's still a human."

_Twitch_

Honda showed no remorse in the comment he had just made that caused Yugi and Anzu to scold him. Otogi, on the other hand, pouted and picked at his lunch. "Well, for starters…, he's like…actually _eating _today. And what's up with the glasses? When did he start wearing those?"

With Otogi's comment, the entire group shifted their attention to the CEO sitting in the corner of the cafeteria not too far from them. He was elegantly eating what they could see was school food.

"Maybe he's just hungry today?" Ryou said at an attempt to defend the brunet.

"I dunno, guys." Otogi began in a worried tone. "What if today's the day that Kaiba finally just…_snaps_?"

_Twitch_

Honda dropped his fork midway before it could reach his mouth and began to look as worried as Ryuji. "D-does he look like he's packin' under that uniform?" Otogi embraced Honda as they nervously stared at Kaiba.

Bakura snorted at their ridiculous behavior, deciding to instigate. "Who knows? For all we know, the guy has enough brains to create a bomb." He smirked. "He seems like the type to enjoy flashy…or much rather…_explosive _endings. Don't you two think so?"

_Twitch_

Ryou and Yugi both jumped up from their seats, the white haired boy hitting Bakura's head with his fist while Yugi did the same to Honda and Otogi. "Enough guys," Yugi began. "Ryou's right. Maybe Kaiba-kun _is_ just hungry today." He anxiously looked over at the CEO who was without his signature laptop and black coffee, wondering if what he just said to the others was true.

Otogi pouted and rubbed the top of his head. "Well don't blame me if we don't get away in time before he kills us all…."

_Twitch!_

'Do these idiots know that I can hear every word they're saying!?' Kaiba thought to himself as he slammed the foam cup of water that was in his hands; all the while his eye twitched rapidly. He peered over to the group and watched as Yugi, Ryou and Anzu scolded the other three while Yami observed. In his mind, he couldn't really find the way to blame any of them for their thoughts. He could completely agree that he was not acting of his 'typical' character, but if they knew the situation, they would be able to see exactly why.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which seemed a lot softer than it usually did. When he realized that no one was paying attention to him, he took a lock of his hair and sniffed it.

'For an ex-gang member,' Kaiba began to think as he sniffed at his wrists and clothing, 'the mutt sure has feminine tastes in bathing essentials.'

Though it had only been about three days since their agreement on Seto's temporary residence, the CEO could not help but feel that his life was being taken over by a certain blond. To his distaste, he began to smell like various girly soaps, and when he brought it up to the blond the first time he had taken a shower, Jou made the excuse that Shizuka had bought them for him while blushing furiously.

Not only that, but every single morning, the brunet was also rudely awakened by Jou singing multiple genres of music ranging from punk to hardcore to metal. He wasn't sure how Jou was able to even wake up before him, or why he himself was waking up later than usual, but would it kill the blond to maybe put on some classical music for once?

Seto sighed and rubbed the temples on his head, attempting to keep his hands busy as he did not have his trademark laptop to furiously type on.

Sometime during Sunday, Mokuba had sent his older brother an email stating that if Seto were to send daily reports on his living situation with Jou, he would give the elder Kaiba some money in return. This was the reason why Kaiba's laptop was currently charging back at Jou's house.

Most of the reports contained complaints that Kaiba had about Jou, while some others were a bit more thoughtful and open-minded. Even so, Kaiba never failed to add something negative about the blond, causing Mokuba to question if this project would even have the desired effect.

'What the hell does he expect me to learn?' Kaiba asked himself as he glared at a wall, ignoring the lovesick looks of fangirls and boys. 'So far, all I've learned is how to restrain myself from strangling the dweeb!'

"Hey guys, where the hell is Jou?"

Kaiba took his attention away from the thoughts of him choking Jou and looked over at Honda.

"He said he had something important to attend to and won't be able to have lunch with us today." Yami replied while petting Yugi's head.

Yugi nestled closer into Yami's chest and looked up at him with his big violet eyes. "He didn't tell me this…." He pouted.

"He doesn't tell anyone anything anymore." Otogi commented as he mimicked the same pout that was plastered on Yugi's face.

Ryou frowned, but could not help himself from agreeing. "Jou _has _been a bit…_secretive_ lately." He sighed. "I do hope he's alright."

"Who knows? Maybe _he's_ going to be the one to snap instead of that Kaiba over there." Bakura gave the group an evil grin.

Anzu scowled. "Leave it to Bakura to ruin a perfectly serious conversation."

As Anzu continued on to have one of her many friendship speeches, Kaiba took the chance to slip away and look for Jou. He wasn't sure what it was that led his feet to carry him up the stairs and towards the roof of the school, but for some reason, he felt that Jou just had to be there.

When he shoved the graffiti-filled, metal door open, the hinges squealed against the frame as the chill winds welcomed him to the outside world. Taking in his surroundings, he realized that the roof was quite barren, and as he looked forward, he could see the linear shapes of buildings within the horizon. He slowly made his way around the roof until he heard a soft snoring behind what seemed to be a shed protruding from the floor.

Kaiba circled around the shed to witness Katsuya peacefully sleeping with his back against a wall while softly snoring. He couldn't help but to let a small smile grace his face as he saw the black pea coat draped around Jou's lean form like a blanket.

The brunet then found himself kneeling down next to the sleeping blond. His hand reached towards Jou's face at an attempt to brush the rebellious stray locks of hair back in place, but before he could do so, Jou murmured something in his sleep and stirred.

Kaiba jumped up and regained his composure. Clearing his throat, he called out to the blond. "Mutt!"

"Nye-wha!?" Jou jumped up in surprise and hit the back of his head against the wall. "Shit!" He rubbed the injury and glared at Kaiba. "Kaiba, ya jerk! What da hell was dat for?"

"What was what for?" Kaiba crossed his arms. "As I recall, you were the one who hit yourself. I'm just an innocent bystander who's unfortunate enough to witness your idiocy."

Jou rolled his eyes and recovered himself. "Well, ya don't have ta sneak up on people like dat!"

Kaiba snorted in response and Jou continued. "What da hell are ya doin hea anyway, moneybags?"

Kaiba stood silent for a bit as he contemplated on an answer. He couldn't tell the blond that he genuinely wanted to go see him because he himself couldn't even believe that. Instead, the stubborn brunet replied, "Making sure you weren't dead somewhere because I didn't see you devouring your lunch like a starving peasant."

"_Aw_, how sweet." Jou sarcastically answered as he wondered if three weeks was almost arriving. 'Damn rich jerk.'

The blond picked up his belongings, and then a faint blush formed on his face as he slipped the coat on. 'Dat's right….' He meekly looked up at Kaiba through the hair that was falling in front of his eyes. 'I neva got a chance ta thank him properly.'

Unbeknownst to Katsuya, Seto was indeed awake that night when the blond had thanked him very gratefully outside of his room.

"Hey ugh, moneybags…about da coat…"

Kaiba's eyes lit up in anticipation, and before Jou could finish what he wanted to say to the CEO, a shrill ringing noise interrupted.

_Ring! Ring!_

"Gah!" Jou frantically fished into his pocket and took out an expensive phone. "D-Damn it! Swipe here ta…ta…what da hell!" He struggled with the phone until Kaiba irritatingly snatched it, took care of the problem by swiftly moving his fingers across the screen, and handed it back to Jou.

'The guy can handle my most complicated dueling disks, but he can't even work a modern day phone.' Kaiba shook his head and leaned against a wall.

"Oh! Ugh…H-hello?" Jou stammered into the pricey gadget.

Kaiba rolled his eyes as he watched the blond talk into the phone that Mokuba had given to him as a present.

Jou's brows furrowed a bit. "Y-yeah it's me. Who's dis?" After the person on the other line responded, Jou's face lit up with a bright smile and he laughed. "Oh, h-hey! What's up?"

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and continued talking to the person while completely ignoring the CEO. "Ha, what do ya mean dat you could tell it was me from da moment I picked up da phone?" He walked over to the exit. "M-my accent? What accent?"

Kaiba let out an aggravated sigh; he wasn't sure when Jou had given his new phone number away, and when he had received the two cellphones in Mokuba's care package, he assumed that Jou would only be using it to call him.

'Not that I'd have anything to talk to that dumb mutt about anyway,' Kaiba thought to himself as his blue eyes followed after the blond who was amiably chatting away. He didn't immediately follow after the other boy because he figured that he'd see Jou during their last two classes together, and he would never be caught dead hanging around him, especially during school.

* * *

When the next class began, Kaiba sat at his seat with nothing on his desk but a pen to sign the attendance sheet that was being passed around. For reasons unknown to him, he secretly watched as other students began to scramble into the class and waited for the blond that he had just seen no more than twenty minutes ago.

Kaiba signed the attendance sheet that was being passed around, and when Katsuya didn't stumble in, out of breath and sweaty as usual because he was late, the CEO began to get a little worried.

But just a little bit.

He passed the sheet on until it reached the sensei.

"Okay, guys. This is ridiculous." The older woman held up the sheet of paper. "Why is it that _every time_ I get this sheet, Kaiba-kun's signature is ripped off and missing?" The teacher proceeded to scold them and the girls in the room giggled.

Kaiba ignored the ruckus that was going on in the classroom as he wondered where Jou was. He peered outside of the window and watched the autumn leaves dance by with the winds until he felt someone watching him. His instincts told him to look over to the gate of the school where he saw a luxurious black car parked in the front. He was then met with familiar emerald green eyes and an irritatingly cocky smirk.

'Yuki….' Kaiba growled in his head as he stared at the older boy who was waiting by the gate. Yuki, who looked even more handsome in regular street clothing, looked up at the window and gave the frustrated CEO a wink. Before the brunet could reply by flipping him off, the older boy shifted his attention away as Jou came happily running towards him.

"Kaiba-kun?"

Kaiba watched the two exchange their words until Yuki wrapped his arm around Jou's shoulder and led the blond into the black vehicle.

"Kaiba-kun!"

When he finally noticed that the sensei was calling out for him, the brunet turned away from the window and looked at her without saying a word.

"Since everyone else doesn't know, do _you _happen to know where Jounouchi-kun is?" Seeing as the two boys were blatantly enemies, she figured that asking Kaiba was a lost cause, but she just had to.

Kaiba blinked, kept a stoic face on and peered outside the window again. "No." He watched the black car speed away into the streets and looked back over at the teacher. "I don't know."

* * *

Until the sun came down and the moon made its arrival, Kaiba spent most of his afternoon furiously typing away on his laptop after he walked to Jou's house alone. When he stopped typing to read what he had just typed, he scowled at the many squiggly red lines that the application had put under his misspelled words.

He let out an exasperated sigh and violently shut his laptop. The more he thought about Jou, the more confused he became; he just didn't know why he was so upset. He figured that it only involved him and how he was having withdrawals from not being at the company for such a long period of time. He also thought that when the three weeks were up, it would be as if he hadn't been living with the mutt for the duration of time, and everything would go back to normal and they'd start hating each other again.

'It's not as if anything has changed between us.' Seto thought as he stared up at the ceiling.

Though it was true that the constant bickering that made them enemies in the eyes of the public had seemed to dwindle, it wasn't as if they had gotten any closer. For the last few days since the agreement, Kaiba had shut himself up in his room and Jou had been working his part-time job as a waiter, coming home late and immediately retreating to his own bedroom.

The only time that they had some sort of direct contact was during breakfast, and even that was spent arguing.

_Ring! Ring!_

Kaiba looked down at his desk and watched his new cellphone vibrate and ring. When he saw a photo of Mokuba pop up, he picked up the phone and answered, happy to hear the voice of his little brother.

"Hi, niisama!" Mokuba joyously greeted his older brother. "How's it goin'? Ya didn't kill Jou yet, did you?"

"Hn, I'm getting terribly close to doing so." Kaiba then went on to list the numerous things that Jou did to irritate him on a daily basis.

Mokuba listened intently, and when Seto stopped himself as he realized he was beginning to sound like a nagging old man, his little brother chimed in.

"Ya know, Seto…." Mokuba began in a mischievous manner. "I think you might like Jou more than you think you do."

Caught off guard by his little brother yet again, Seto scrambled up in his seat. "That's ridiculous, Mokuba!" He frowned. "How could I like him _more_ if I never liked him at all?"

Mokuba giggled and spun around in Kaiba's office chair. "Oh, niisama. You've got two and a half more weeks; you'll figure it out."

"There's absolutely nothing to figure out, Mokuba." Seto quickly changed the subject. "How are the preparations?"

"I'll let the subject change slide." Mokuba replied, causing Seto to roll his eyes. "They're fine. I've actually found a few potential places where we could place the academy and the new blueprints will be set by…."

Kaiba listened to his younger brother go on, not sure about how to feel when it came to Mokuba running the company. Had he always assumed that Mokuba would be the one to succeed him when the time came? He asked himself this and thought about it deeply because he wasn't sure if he wanted his precious little brother to end up like him.

Even so, Mokuba was doing a hell of a fantastic job, and he could see that the younger Kaiba enjoyed the chance to shine in front of his beloved niisama.

"O-oh! I gotta go, Seto. CEO duties call! Bye, niisama!"

"…Bye, Mokuba." A little disappointed that he was once again left alone to suffer in his many ponderings, Seto set the phone down and made his way towards the window.

When he heard a faint creaking noise, he let his attention fall on the old swing set that was in Jou's small backyard. He slipped on his designer glasses and let his eyes adjust to the darkness that was only illuminated by a small backyard light. And there, he saw the missing blond happily swinging back and forth like a child as he hummed a tune.

* * *

The autumn leaves that were scattered across the small yard were crushed underneath Kaiba's shoes as he made his way towards the blond. His long trench coat noisily fluttered in the wind, but his ears optioned to listen to Katsuya's deep and blissful humming.

"K-Kaiba!" Jou stopped swinging as the brunet stood next to the swing set. He gave the CEO a never-before-seen warm smile. "I'm home."

Kaiba's heart skipped a beat, and he wondered if he was dreaming as he looked at Jou who had happily greeted him instead of insulting him or yelling at him.

"Hn, fantastic." Kaiba dryly replied.

He waited for the blond to comeback with a, 'whateva moneybags' or start some sort of argument. Instead, he remained silently smiling and began to swing again. Kaiba raised a brow at the blond's uncharacteristic behavior, and then he sat himself at the swing besides Jou.

A nostalgic feeling washed over him as he remembered playing on swings with Mokuba when he was younger. He unconsciously let his long legs push his body back, and though it was a small amount, the swing began to propel him forward.

"Wow," Katsuya began as he swung himself higher and eyed the CEO next to him. "Dis day just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

Kaiba raised a brow. "How so, mutt?" His body moved forward some more.

"Eh…Well…" Jou looked as if he was contemplating on saying something, but quickly repressed it. "…Seeing yer rich ass on a swing set is pretty weird, if ya ask me."

Seto felt a bit relieved as Jou was returning back to normal. "Hmph, I didn't know swing sets were limited to the common folk."

Instead of arguing about the commoner comment, Jou merely laughed and swung higher. "Whateva moneybags." He smiled and looked forward. "Bet ya can't swing higha den me!"

Normally, Kaiba would brush Jou off and call him a babbling idiot, but for some reason, he took up the challenge and let his long legs pull him back and forth with a great strength.

"Ah! Dat's not fair moneybags! Yer too tall!" Jou frantically screamed as he tried harder to swing.

The swing creaked louder as Seto smirked and caught up to Jou without much effort. "Hn, and you're too short, mutt!"

"I'm only a couple inches shorter than ya!" He looked over at Kaiba who was suddenly tied with him. "What da hell!? Ya damn freak a' nature!"

When Kaiba passed the blond, he smirked. "Looks like you lost mutt. And you even had a head start."

"Gah! Ta hell wit' you, moneybags!"

When Jou decided to jump off of the swing at full speed, Kaiba also decided that it was time to stop. They flew off of the swings at the same time, and when their legs tangled in midair and ruined their chances of a safe landing, Kaiba quickly grabbed hold of Jou and braced for the impact of them falling onto the ground.

"Oof!" The wind was knocked out of Kaiba as his back hit the hard ground and his glasses flew off of his face. "Fuck…." He murmured as he tried to get up—only to realize that the blond was on top of him.

He wasn't sure when, but his arms had somehow encircled Jou's waist sometime during their ungraceful fall.

"K-Kaiba!" Jou took his face out of the brunet's chest and worriedly gazed at Seto with his honey eyes. "Are you o—" He stopped himself midsentence as he peered into the CEO's icy blue eyes. He felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the moonlight reflected in the mysterious orbs, and then he wondered if Kaiba had always been so handsome.

Seto locked eyes with the blond, hoping that the other wouldn't close in on the erratic beating of his heart. He desperately wondered what was going on through Jou's head as they stared at each other under the moonlight, and he realized that he had never wished to know what was going on in anyone else's thoughts other than his and Mokuba's.

_I think you might like Jou more than you think you do._

Mokuba's words coursed through his head like a broken record player, driving him crazy as the blond practically straddled him.

"…Jouno—"

_Ping!_

"Ah!" Jou jumped up at the sudden noise. "What da hell was dat!?"

Kaiba blinked a few times, attempting to register what he was about to say to Jou and understand the entire situation. He drew nothing but blanks as the rude noise continued to assault their quiet moment together.

_Ping!_

"Damn it! What is dat!?" Jou yelled.

The brunet sighed and pushed his body off of the ground, brushing off any dirt or grass that made its way onto his trench coat. "It's your phone, you dumb mutt."

Jou looked up at Kaiba. "My phone?" He fished through his coat pockets and grabbed it. "Why's it doin' dat?"

"You got a text message, you moron." Kaiba replied, vaguely regretting the fact that he had thrown away the manual.

"Oh!" Jou swiped his fingers across the phone and found his way towards his messages. When he softly smiled at the screen, Kaiba curiously glanced towards him, waiting/hoping for some sort of explanation.

"What? Are you dweebs going to trade cards again or something?" Kaiba asked, suddenly feeling impatient.

Jou looked up from the screen. "No!" He looked back down and began to type his reply to the messenger. "N-not dat it's any of yer business…." He began blushing as he continued. "Or even dat you care 'cause I know you don't, moneybags…."

"Just spit it out, mutt."

Jou kept staring at his phone while he nervously tapped the edges of the screen. "It's me and Yuki…." He suddenly grinned as another ping noise came and he received a reply.

"We're dating now!"

* * *

DUN DUN DUN.

Don't kill me. Please review. Heh-heh….

-runs away-


End file.
